Winning Willy Wonka
by ConfusionMakesTheWorld
Summary: When an American teenage girl wins a summer internship at the famed chocolate factory, everyone's worlds get shaken up. Wonka/OC, slight Charlie/OC
1. Welcome to the Factory

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC

Warning: There is mature content involving a minor with an adult. Consensual, but if you don't like that, then don't read.

She was completely brilliant. He couldn't deny it. She was the most incredible thing he had ever encountered. And that's what made him feel that much worse.

Willy Wonka met Lauren through a contest. Nothing like the one that Charlie won, though. This was a study program. She was to stay at the factory as an intern to himself and Charlie over the course of the summer. And she had won from her remarkable ideas.

Star struck, the American teenager walked up the steps of the factory one day, hardly believing she was there at all.

Willy greeted her at the door. Smiling widely, he held up a card and read off of it.

"Good morning Starshine! Welcome to my factory. I shake you warmly by the hand."

He reached out to her, but then he actually looked at her face. Willy's eyes widened immensely. Quickly, he retracted his hand.

"Hello Mr. Wonka. It's an honor to be here," she quickly replied, not noticing Willy's awkward gesture in the least.

"Well, we mustn't dilly dally. Let's get you settled into your room," he grinned to her.

Lauren nodded and followed after Willy into the factory.

He wouldn't look back to her the entire time they walked through the hallways. He spoke very quickly, even for him. As he moved along, he pointed out as much as he could, trying to cover up blunder after blunder in his speech.

_Get it together, _he thought to himself, _she's just here for a couple of months. We'll get along swell. She did, after all, win the contest._

Amazed by the entire spectacle, Lauren just looked around, wide eyed to it all. She had heard of the factory, but never in her wildest dreams did she imagine it to be so… magical.

Finally, the two reached Lauren's room. It was just across the hall from Willy's own room. Willy opened the door and stepped inside, simply expecting Lauren to follow after.

"This is where you'll be staying," he stated brightly, still not looking at the girl.

Lauren looked around the room. It had deep purple walls and a pastel pink floor and ceiling. The bed itself was immense. The sheets were such a deep shade of brown, one could mistake it for black at first glance. Along the walls were a multitude of shelves, each holding many different candies.

Quickly, Lauren furrowed her eyebrows because she had made a strange observation.

"Where's the light coming from?" she asked, for there was no lamp or candle in sight.

Willy finally turned and looked at Lauren. He opened his mouth slowly, but then snapped it shut. After raising a single finger in the air, he had composed himself and was able to explain.

"See how pink the ceiling and floor are? Well, that's where the light comes from. Any room that needs light has a ceiling and floor source, which simply burst into life when someone comes in and thinks about the light."

Intrigued, Lauren then asked, "How are the two connected? Do they trace certain emotional patterns in people to verify their wish to illuminate the region?"

Willy blinked hard.

_Does this girl speak English?_

"Umm…they just…read your thoughts," he nervously stated, ending it with a giggle.

Lauren grinned. Yes, she was quite analytical, but she still enjoyed in being able to just _believe_ in things when given the opportunity.

After that Willy made his leave so that Lauren could unpack into her quarters for the next couple of months. He made his way straight across the hall to his own room. He often liked to go to his psychiatrist to solve his problems, but he thought this was one that shouldn't really be discussed.

_She's underage. And she's so… sciency and… weird. Why do I feel this way so suddenly? I always know the plan upon sight, but she has it all in a wreck. What am I to do? Am I really going to be able to work alongside her?_

Willy sighed and leaned back on his bed. He closed his eyes lightly, and then sat back up. He needn't be having these thoughts while on a bed. In fact, he wasn't having these thoughts. He wouldn't admit to himself that he was. Willy quickly scurried out of his room and down to the Inventing Room, to take his mind off of things.

After Willy had left, Lauren had proceeded to unpack the way she always did: she threw the suitcase on the floor. She was a very organized person, but she didn't like packing or unpacking, so she avoided them at all costs. She didn't know why she had this issue, but she just did.

Lauren looked around in her room, amazed at how large and open it was. The closet alone could have swallowed her own room at home! With all the room out on the floor, she could certainly take care of all sorts of projects back here. But, even though Lauren was typically one to get straight to business, her mind was drifting.

_**He's**__ Willy Wonka? It's amazing to think that he'll be my boss. This opens so many doors for me. I just need to make sure I don't screw it up. I'm sure we'll get along well enough. He seems to be an awkward eccentric. I like that. I just fear that I like it a bit too much._

Lauren pulled her arm in front of her and looked at the time. 1:30 PM. Well, it would still be morning back home, and Lauren was usually a late sleeper. She couldn't help but feel tired. Though her need for productivity was sparking, she decided a nap wouldn't hurt. She set her watch's alarm to go off in half an hour's time.

_A man was standing in the corner of her room. Lauren slowly rose from her bed and walked towards him. She couldn't make his face out. It was dark. This couldn't be good news. Lauren made her way all the way up to him, but in the darkness, still couldn't make out the details of his face. She reached up, and placed a hand on his cheek._

"_No," he said._

_That voice was familiar, but whose was it?_

_Though still unaware of the stranger's identity, Lauren couldn't help but feel an immense depression at his rejection. She hadn't really done anything. He hadn't even given her a chance._

_The man then grabbed each of her hands and backed her up towards the bed. He gently shoved Lauren back onto it. He made his way directly above her. The man reached down and cupped Lauren's breasts. He began to knead them, and Lauren moaned softly. One of his hands traveled downward, and grabbed the hem of her t-shirt. He pulled it up slowly, then exposing her breasts fully. The man began to knead them once more, teasing and pinching at her nipples slightly._

_Lauren reached out to pull up the man's shirt as well, but once again, she was met by his plainly stated, "No."_

_The man then reached around the waistband of Lauren's shorts, and slowly began to pull them down. The sliding of the material down her legs felt incredibly erotic to Lauren, for she knew what was to come._

_Once her shorts were gone, the man looked down to Lauren. She reached out to grab the waistband of his pants._

_All she received was a "No."_

_The man then lowered himself down, directly in front of Lauren's sex. She was dripping with longing. He placed a finger on her clit, and slowly began to rub it in a circular motion._

_Lauren cried out, instantly feeling the pleasure of the man's hand._

_The man then leaned in, and slowly licked up between her lips._

_Lauren let out a loud moan, surprised that he would do that._

_The man continued to lick and kiss her. He stuck his tongue in and out, taking in all of her juices while he still rubbed her clit._

_His tempo increased, and Lauren began to jerk her hips to his rhythm. She came with a loud cry, and the man licked up all of her juices._

_Lauren felt so happy, and then the light came on, and she could see the man's face._

_Willy Wonka._

Lauren's eyes burst wide open as the alarm on her watch went off.

_Oh shit._


	2. Dinner With the Buckets

That evening Lauren was to meet the Buckets. They were having dinner in their home. Lauren couldn't wait to meet the infamous heir to the chocolate factory. She dug around in her suitcase, not sure what to wear. How formal would dinner be in this place? She thought about it, and realized it wouldn't be. So she just put on a long black skirt with a magenta blouse. Simple and casual, yet quite nice.

Lauren stepped out of her room, but then realized she didn't know her way back to where the Buckets' home was located. She looked at Willy's door, hoping that he was still there so he could lead her down.

Lauren knocked once, twice, three times and got no answer.

_Fan-freakin-tastic,_ she thought, knowing she would get lost. She had never been too good with direction.

Lauren decided to just wing it and made her way down the hallways, hoping she wouldn't get in too much trouble trying to find her destination. So she wandered, finding the rooms all familiar, but not sure of direction still. As she worried, she suddenly fell back to the ground. Lauren had crashed into something, but what? But then she could see it was the glass elevator. Knowing it could take her anywhere, she cautiously stepped in. But there were so many buttons! Which one should she press? So she just pressed one, hoping it would take her to the right place or at least settle her bearings.

Next thing she knew, Lauren was in the Inventing Room. And there was Willy! She stepped out of the elevator and ran over to him.

"Mr. Wonka!"

Willy jumped, startled by suddenly being called on. He quickly swerved about so he was facing the speaker. And it turned out to be Lauren. He smiled a small, nervous smile.

"Yes?"

"Oh Mr. Wonka! I'm glad I found you! I was trying to go down to dinner with the Buckets and got lost and… can you help me?"

Willy nodded slightly as he said, "Oh, well I guess it's right about that time. So let's boogey right on down there."

Lauren smiled and followed Willy into the elevator. He instantly pressed a button without hesitation, and next thing she knew, she was in front of the Buckets' home. Willy stepped out of the elevator and pushed right on past her inside the house without even knocking. Lauren found that strange, but shrugged and followed after him.

Upon stepping inside, Lauren was met by a hug. She lightly put her arms around the person, but didn't give it much. She wasn't exactly the… hugging type.

"It's wonderful to have someone here around Charlie's age for him to work with him!" exclaimed the woman as she pulled away.

"Oh, where are my manners. I'm Charlie's mother."

"Oh, hello Mrs. Bucket," Lauren brightly greeted.

Mrs. Bucket then proceeded to rapidly introduce everyone else to her.

"It's great to meet you all," Lauren smiled.

Mrs. Bucket then shooed everyone off to the dining table. It was time to eat! And eat they did, for the cooking really was spectacular.

"The food is marvelous, Mrs. Bucket."

"I married her for a reason," piped in Mr. Bucket.

"She does this every night, too," Charlie smiled.

Willy had been strangely quiet, but then asked Charlie, "So what did you do today with your free time?"

"Oh, I tinkered with some ideas in the Tinkering Room. We can all go over them tomorrow."

Mrs. Bucket beamed, "Quite the worker my son is, but there will be none of that at the table, and you know that."

Lauren giggled slightly.

"Lauren, what do you do back home?" Charlie then asked.

"Oh, not much. Mostly just school work and such. I babysat here and there, but I mainly focused on my studies. My parents let me do this because it'll look great on my record for college. I'm just excited to be here and get to work. But," Lauren looked at Mrs. Bucket as she looked like she was about to protest, "I won't go into that here." Mrs. Bucket smiled.

Charlie nodded; listening intently to Lauren's every word. Willy wouldn't look away from his food, though. The boy shot him a look, thinking his mentor should pay attention to his fellow student.

Lauren giggled at this as well.

"Did I mention that I also have a nasty habit of biting people?"

Willy's head shot up and he looked at her wide eyed.

Lauren smirked.

"I thought that'd get your attention. I was kidding."

The rest of the dinner got along well. Lauren and Charlie got along very well, pleasing Mrs. Bucket greatly, and exciting them about getting to work the next day.

"Thank you for the dinner. And yes, I'll come back tomorrow night. You couldn't keep me away from your meals if you tried!" Lauren called after them, making her way back to the glass elevator.

Willy had beaten her inside, and he stood stock still, arms crossed in front of him on top of his cane. He stared off blankly, looking almost reminiscent of something. Lauren then stepped in and waved her hand in front of his face.

"Hellooooo? Don't leave me hangin' here. You've gotta press the button. I'll prolly end up breakin' the thing," she smirked.

Willy blinked and snapped back. He grinned and then reached over and pressed a button. The elevator shot off and stopped at one end of the hallway their rooms were on. The two stepped out and proceeded down the long hallway.

"So how early do we get to work?"

"9 am. Right after breakfast."

"Which is where?"

"In your room, silly. The Oompa Loompa room service is very good here."

Lauren nodded and mouthed, "Oh."

"Alright. Here we are! Night, night," Willy quickly stated before abruptly turning directly into his bedroom.

Lauren furrowed her eyebrows, slightly surprised by Willy's haste in getting to bed.

"Must've been pretty tired," she mumbled, stepping into her own room.

She then went through her nightly routine and went to bed. Willy had done the same in his own room.


	3. On The Job

Lauren pulled the covers over her head. She had felt a poke, and so this was her answer to it. She was then met by another poke.

"Go awaaaaaaaaay," she groaned.

Poke, poke.

"Fine, I'll get up."

Lauren wasn't exactly… chipper first thing in the morning.

She smiled a forced smile to the Oompa Loompa that had brought her breakfast and woken her. It then left her to eat. So, she sat on the bed, scratching at her head slightly, as she stared down at the tray.

_Is that bacon… licorice? And is that hot chocolate?_

"They certainly know how to cook around here," she thought aloud as she reached down to her drink.

Lauren then nearly leapt out of her skin as she was met by knocking at the door.

"Shit!" she yelled, having spilled her hot chocolate all over herself.

_It burns __**and**__ stains. Fabulous._

Lauren then hopped over to the door, pulling her shirt away from her skin some. She opened it without looking up, as she was preoccupied with her current mess.

"Oh," Willy let out, his voice sounding slightly higher as his eyebrows raised to the top of his forehead.

Lauren looked up and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, but ya made me jump outta my bones. Didn't settle well with my breakfast."

"I see. Well, that's no reason for profane language."

Lauren's eyes widened as she meekly responded, "Oh, you heard that?"

Willy nodded, "Ya. You were loud. Don't do that. We won't be needing that in _this_ factory."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to make a bad impression. I'm just… not a morning person. Listen, if you could just give me twenty minutes to clean up and shower then I'll be right out."

Willy curtly nodded and walked away from the door.

_Wow. She's weird. Really weird, _Willy thought, _But I haven't seen her work yet. Maybe she won't be so weird then._

Willy paced about, waiting for Lauren, when she finally stepped out of her room. He looked to her, and was able to get his first really clear view of her since she had arrived. She was quite tall, in fact, about the same height as him. And her brunette hair that had a slightly auburn tinge ran down to her shoulders. She wore a t-shirt and jeans, which clearly, though obviously not purposely, showed off her C cup bust and wide hips. Though thin, she seemed curvaceous. Willy gulped.

"This isn't too casual, is it? I mean, I thought we wore what was comfortable, but if you don't approve I can change."

Willy shook his head, still speechless for a moment before he said, "You're fine. Let's just go to the elevator, kay?"

Lauren nodded and followed after Willy down the hall to the elevator. They stepped in, he pressed a button, and off they went yet again. They ended up at the Tinkering Room.

"I told Charlie we'd meet him here so we could check out his ideas from yesterday."

Lauren wanted to say, "I know, I was there when you told him," but didn't think it wise. She felt as if she wasn't exactly on good terms with the factory owner quite yet.

_I'll just have to fix that with my work ethic. Seems to work often enough._

As the two entered the room, Charlie leapt up from where he had been sitting and ran over.

"Hey Lauren! Hey Mr. Wonka!"

Lauren and Willy both said their greetings.

"Ok, Charlie, so how about those ideas?"

"Oh yes, here they are," Charlie said, pulling out a large stack of sketches.

Lauren's eyes widened.

"You did all of that yesterday?"

Charlie nodded.

"I had a lot of time."

"I can see that."

So the trio then spent the next couple of hours going through the sketches and figuring out how they could work. They then came to one that they particularly liked, but didn't know how to go about.

"Edible toy cars…" Willy muttered.

"Kids would love to play with them, but how can we make it work? The tires would have to be rough and the exterior of the car sturdy. What candy could work with that?" Charlie pondered.

By now, Lauren was pacing about. She was completely silent with a deeply furrowed brow as she thought. The men took no notice of her.

_Rough and all terrain, but not harmful to their mouths… But if it was stretchy… Oh but wouldn't things stick to it? And then…_

Lauren's eyes burst wide open and she ran over to the guys, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.

"I've got it!"

"Really? What is it?" Charlie eagerly asked.

"Don't dilly dally, just spit it out!" Willy stated.

"Give me a chance to breathe guys," Lauren grinned, "Ok, so since the tires need to be sturdy, then what about a layer on the outside like a solid gumball, but on the inside is full of marshmallows? Because it'd be strong against the ground, but quickly cracks into softness as children chew. And then for the actual car exterior, we could use a hard cookie-ish type of substance, like on that one Japanese candy. What do you guys think?"

"I think you're brilliant!" Charlie cried out, leaping up and pulling Lauren into a hug.

Lauren smiled, "Thanks," but her arms hung by her sides.

"Willy, isn't Lauren's idea brilliant?"

"It's dandy. We can get it into production straight away," Willy replied, though quite blankly as he stared off.

"Well, I do believe that's the last of those ideas of yours, Charlie, so does that mean it's lunch time?"

"Oh, yes," Willy jumped to his feet, and then brushed past them and out the door.

Lauren looked to Charlie.

"Do we follow?"

"No. He usually has lunch in his room. Or not at all."

"Oh. Well, what do you do for lunch?"

"There's a cafeteria run by the Oompa Loompas. It has something new everyday, and the meals are all quite exotic. A delicacy a day."

"Heh. I like the sound of that. But since I don't know my way around… at all, could you lead the way?"

"Of course!" Charlie said, then linking his arm with hers.

Lauren smiled to herself. Charlie was a lot of fun and easy to get along with.

_But boy, it sure doesn't take the guy long to make you his friend._

So Lauren and Charlie went to the cafeteria and enjoyed, whaddaya know, Japanese. The entire time they chatted about their hobbies and such and got to know each other even better. They were certainly quite good friends by now, since they had many common interests, and anything that wasn't common, seemed to compliment one another. Best friend sonar was officially on.

After lunch Charlie led Lauren down to the Fluff and Stuff Room. This was where things like cotton candy and marshmallows were handled. Since the edible toy car was the most important project, they were overseeing its production most directly. The two of them began designing the wheels using Lauren's idea. When they finished, they headed down to the Eastern Delights Room, so they could get their hands on the recipe for the Japanese cookie candy coating. As they worked on modeling various car designs, Lauren began to wonder why Willy hadn't joined them.

"Hey Charlie?"

"Hmm?"

"Why isn't Willy working with us?"

"He likes to check up on pretty much everything. Usually we oversee it all together, but with you here we're exploring more time options. He can spend the rest of the day doing that, while you and I can design. You've already proven that you can certainly do that quite well," he grinned, nodding down to the cookie car Lauren was now holding.

"Now don't give me a big head. It's already immense from the many compliments you guys give me. Especially your mom."

"Yeah, she's just excited since it has just been me and Willy for the past few years. She thought I needed some same age companionship."

"Well you've got that," Lauren nudged his shoulder.

Lauren and Charlie finished up their work in there, and also went on to design various other ideas that were going into the works that day. When all was said and done, it was time for dinner.

"So Lauren," Mrs. Bucket started, "how was your first day on the job?"

"Fantastic. I was constantly working my tail off."

"Oh no! They better not be overworking you!"

"No, it's of my own choice. Charlie kept trying to slow me down, but what can I say, I'm a bit of a workaholic."

"Oh," Mrs. Bucket smiled warmly, "well just try not to work too hard."

"Don't worry about me Mrs. Bucket. You pamper me too much with these meals! Two nights in a row of brilliance. You could open a restaurant."

"That's not a bad idea," Mr. Bucket piped in, "I can really see you doing that well. And I could certainly be a managerial partner."

"Well, I never really thought about it…" Mrs. Bucket said, "But that does sound good."

"Are we going to finally take a step out of this factory?" asked Grandpa George.

"You've had that option. You just don't take it," retorted Grandma Georgina.

"Wow, didn't realize I could get the gears turnin' like this," Lauren commented.

"Well you certainly are the little thinker," piped in Willy, who up until then, had been completely silent.

"Well I try," she returned.

"Keep trying and the factory will have the most candies in development… ever."

Lauren smiled. She found these to be quite the compliments from her boss.

_Oh that smile, _Willy thought, _I hope she smiles again._

Lauren, Charlie and Willy quietly listened to the bickering of the grandparents and the planning of the parents. Quite the hustle and bustle.

Willy then leapt from his seat.

"Well I'm all done and I really must be heading off to my room. Goodnight everyone!"

"Mr. Wonka, wait!" Lauren cried out after him.

Willy turned and cocked his head to the side slightly, waiting to hear her reason for stopping him.

"Since we're in the same hallway, can you wait just a moment so I can ride in the elevator with you? I'm almost done here."

Willy looked slightly annoyed but let out a, "Kay."

As soon as Lauren finished, she said her goodbyes and followed Willy to the elevator. They stepped in and he pressed a button. The elevator then suddenly shot up, incredibly fast, and then off to the side quite quickly. Lauren had had her trouble standing in the elevator from the get go, but this was flinging her about completely.

"Fuck!" she yelled as she smashed her head into one of the walls of the elevator.

"Now there's no need for that naughty lang…uage…" Willy's words drifted as he saw blood now seeping from Lauren's head.

"Wha-what?"

Willy just stared at Lauren in horror.

"D-d-did I-I j-j-j-j-" Lauren couldn't finish the sentence, or even the word for that matter.

Willy dropped to his knees beside Lauren.

"Shh. I'll get you to the doctor. Just… don't try to talk."

"K-k-k-kay."

Willy pressed a different button and the elevator changed direction.

_Why did the elevator go so much faster than normal? I'll have the Mecha Loompas check it out._

Lauren sighed and slowly closed her eyes.

"Lauren, no! Stay awake! Stay awake!" Willy urgently cried.


	4. Keep Me Safe

Lauren lazily opened her eyes.

Just then, the elevator reached its stop. Gingerly, Willy placed his hands under Lauren to carry her bridal style. Lauren tried to grasp onto him, but couldn't muster enough strength to do so, so it was up to Willy to maintain his balance as he carried her. He reached the ward and placed her on a bed, where she was immediately surrounded by a flurry of Meda Loompas who started to work on her. Willy stepped back and watched. After a while, he looked down at himself, and saw how he was completely covered in blood. Her blood. Willy fainted.

***************************

Willy slowly opened his eyes and realized he was in a bed. He then looked over to his left, and saw Lauren also in a bed. She was also sitting up.

"Hi!" she cheerfully called to him.

"Hi. Are you ok?"

"Yup. I'm all stitched up now," Lauren patted her head, and then winced at the contact.

_Not the brightest thing to do._

"So I guess we're bed neighbors now. First with the rooms, now this. It's like you can't escape me," she grinned to him.

"Heheh, yeah. You're always there."

_But you're not there enough._

_No! Stop it! I can't think these things. It's wrong! It's distracting! _

"Soooo, I take it this means I get tomorrow off. Seeing as the doc says I'm not supposed to stand or walk or anything. It'll unbalance my brain or something. I may be smart, but I never got into this medical stuff."

"Yeah. You don't need to be working after that nasty fall. So are you staying in here tonight?"

"It depends. Doc says I can go to my room if I wanna, but I gotta take a wheel chair. And someone would have to be able to lift me into bed and everything."

"Oh… well, do you wanna go to your room?"

"Yeah… I kinda do. I'm more comfortable there than in a place like this."

"Well…um… I could take you."

"Really? That'd be great!" Lauren beamed.

Willy smiled, enjoying her smile.

_It's just friendly._

Not long after that Lauren and Willy were able to head down to their rooms, with Willy pushing Lauren in the wheel chair. He walked, because he didn't want to risk her getting thrown around the elevator again.

So as they walked, they began to chat. Lauren was glad to get a chance to better know her mentor and boss.

"So what do you consider me?"

"What do I consider you?" Willy repeated the question.

"I mean, you're obviously my superior and boss in work, but outside of that, what are we? Or is it too soon to tell?"

"Oh, well, um, we're friends, aren't we?"

Lauren smiled up at him. "Good. That's what I was hoping."

As they neared the hallway, last minute panic began to floor Lauren. What if she went into a coma? What if she fell out of the bed and worsened her concussion? What if her stitches reopened?

"Mr. Wonka?"

"You can call me Willy outside of work. Actually, you and Charlie can always call me Willy if you want."

"Ok, well, Willy? I'm scared."

Willy frowned. "Of what?"

"Well, I'm afraid of a lot of things. I could fall out of the bed and worsen my concussion and be unable to get up. I could become paralyzed. I could reopen my stitches. I could fall into a coma-"

Willy cut her off because she was talking frighteningly fast. "What do you want to do then? That's an awful lot to be thinking about."

"Well, if I could have some kind of company that'd really help."

"Umm, well, I don't know. Do you want to go back to the ward?"

"No, I don't like that place. I don't know where I can get someone to stay the night with me in my room though."

"Well, you are right across the hall, so I guess I could do it…" Willy nervously suggested.

"Oh would you Mr. Won-Willy?!"

Willy smiled. "Yeah, I can do it."

Just then they reached the bedroom, so they then entered. Willy wheeled Lauren into the bathroom, and then stepped out so she could change into her pajamas. He heard a lot of struggling, and wondered if everything was all right. So he apprehensively knocked on the door.

"Starshine? Are you ok?"

"Ugh! Umm, yeah. It's just hard to do this from a bloody chair when my legs are too weak to support me."

"Oh. I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

Lauren looked down. So far all she had succeeded in doing was taking her clothes off. No. Too awkward.

"No, I'll manage."

She pulled her t-shirt over her head somewhat easily, but then looked at her shorts. How was she going to lift her legs enough to get through there and then get them all the way up when she was sitting? Lauren sighed.

"Ok, I think I do need your help."

"Yes? What can I do?"

"Can you…umm… well… help me get my shorts on?"

Willy's eyes burst wide. Well, he could manage. Yes… he could do that. I mean, it was only shorts.

"Ya. Okay," he said, then opening the door and entering.

Lauren sat in the wheel chair with her bare legs bearing all. She hadn't really even thought about it since it was a casual thing she did, but since she slept in boxers, she didn't wear panties in bed. She hoped her baggy shirt was just baggy enough.

"Kay," Willy muttered, ripping his eyes away from Lauren's legs. He grabbed her shorts and pulled her legs in through. He began to work his way up with the shorts. And it was incredibly erotic feeling to Lauren. She had to stifle a moan. It was the way his fingers grazed her skin just slightly as he did so, though she knew he didn't mean to. In fact, the man was probably asexual now that she thought about it. Which would mean there'd really be nothing to worry about. So Lauren relaxed as Willy then lifted Lauren up slightly so he could pull her shorts up the rest of the way.

She didn't notice the fact that Willy tensed up. When he got the shorts the rest of the way up, he had gotten a glance of… _down there._ What worried him most was what it did to him. He could already feel a tightening in his pants.

_No! That's gross and disgusting. She's a dirty little girl. She'll be gone in a few months and I won't have to worry about this ever again._

Lauren took care of the rest of her nightly routine, as did Willy, and then he picked her up and carried her over to the bed, laying her down gently.

"Thanks."

Willy nodded. He then began to make his way over to the couch in her room.

Lauren frowned.

_That can't be very comfortable. And since he's probably asexual…_

Lauren patted the spot on the bed beside her. It was larger than a king size after all.

"It'd be much more comfortable for you if you stayed in here. And plus I'd feel safer because then you could keep a closer eye on me."

"No, I should really-"

"No, I insist. It'll be fine. I've already explained my biting situation."

Willy giggled nervously and then turned and made his way over to the bed. He climbed in and got on the absolute very farthest edge.

"Don't be silly. Get over here."

Willy scooted over slightly.

Lauren rolled her eyes and reached over. She grabbed his arm and tugged slightly, making him scoot closer.

"See, you're fine. You won't catch any diseases here."

Willy's eyes widened once again. He hadn't even thought of that!

_But she did say there weren't any._

Willy relaxed slightly then.

"Much better. Now how's about a good night's sleep."

Lauren fell asleep almost immediately. Willy watched her then. Her chest raising slightly as she breathed, her lips parted just so, he could feel the tightness once again.

_Why is this happening? I haven't felt this since I was a teenager! I'm just a dirty old man, _he thought, knowing very well that his thoughts were very wrong.

Suddenly, Lauren rolled over, wrapping one arm around Willy as she nuzzled her head into his chest.

_Oh no! She's trying to seduce me!_

Willy was breathing heavily, but slowly calmed as he became certain that she was, in fact, fast asleep. And soon, he allowed himself to do so as well.


	5. Three's a Crowd

Lauren slowly fluttered her eyes open.

"Mmmmmm…." she moaned as she sat up and stretched.

She then looked over and saw a note.

_Dear Lauren_

_I woke up early and went to work, which it is recommended that you do not attend today, considering your current condition. When you wake up, the Meda Loompas will check on you. Also, please learn to keep your head and hands to yourself._

_Signed,_

_Willy Wonka_

Lauren frowned in confusion.

_Keep my head and hands to myself? What the hell is that supposed to mean?_

Just then, two nurses came in. They checked on Lauren's head and did basic tests. Lauren was then able to relax when they left. She had breakfast in bed and watched some movies.

When lunch time came, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Lauren called, curious as to who it was.

Charlie then entered with two trays of food. He smiled nervously.

"I thought you could use some company."

"Well you were right in that assumption," Lauren grinned, and then pointed at the trays, "so what's all that? Were you _that _hungry?"

Charlie giggled, "One's for you."

"Oh, well that explains a lot."

"It's French," he said, handing her a tray.

"Merci beaucoup!"

"Wow! You speak French?"

"Yes, I'm fluent in two words."

The teens then both fell into a fit of giggles. After that they calmed down and ate their food.

"So what happened?" Charlie finally got the courage to ask.

"I wasn't as braced for the elevator as I thought I was. It had thrown me around before, but this time I went crashing."

"I see that."

"Yeah but Willy was great to me last night. He carried me to the doctor and even stayed with me last night to make sure I was ok."

"Oh… well… that was nice…"

"I thought so," Lauren said, not noticing Charlie's now quieter tone.

"So where did he stay last night?"

Lauren blushed, "Oh, well he actually stayed… there," she said, pointing directly next to her on the bed.

Charlie raised his eyebrows and his voice pitch heightened, "_Oh?_"

"Yeah… but nothing happened!" she quickly added.

Charlie nodded slowly.

"He just stayed with me to make me feel safe about my injuries and everything."

"Ok. Hey, I've really got to get back to work. So I'll take your tray and I'll talk to you later. Get well soon!"

"Oh-" Lauren was taken aback by his abruptness, "thanks. Yeah, later."

She smiled to him as he rushed out the door.

_That was weird. I hope he's ok and doesn't have a problem with anything. I mean… Willy was just helping me. It's not like- oh my God. Charlie's jealous!_

As soon as Charlie got out of Lauren's room he ran down the hall and around the corner. He quickly gave the trays to an Oompa Loompa and then ran further away. Finally, he got into a nice and secluded spot. He leaned his back against the wall and sighed.

"Why?" he mumbled.

_A beautiful girl my age comes to the factory… and it's Willy that she's gonna be with. Willy. _

Charlie turned and crashed his forehead against the wall. He banged it down a few times as silent tears began to travel down his cheeks.

"Willy, Willy, _Willy_!"

Charlie sunk to the ground and turned his back to the wall once more. He slowly brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

"_Why?_" he whispered.

Willy worked frantically all day. He had been with Charlie in the morning, but regretfully didn't pay him much attention. But after lunch, he didn't see Charlie any more.

_That's weird…_

But without Charlie by his side, his thoughts took over. At least before the occasional comments and questions could distract him. Now his mind was the soundtrack.

_Why did I offer to stay with her? All that did was cause trouble, trouble, trouble. She- she smelled nice. And she shouldn't smell nice. It's just… confusing. She's a dirty girl putting dirty thoughts in my head. It's distracting. I need to work. Oh no!_

Willy then realized that in his thoughts, his mind had wandered too much because he now had an overflowing batch of fudge before him. Oompa Loompas rushed all around to fix up the situation.

"Oh no! I'm sorry! This is such a mess…" he rambled, throwing his arms about and causing quite the commotion of squeaking from clenching and unclenching his gloved hands so much.

One of the Oompa Loompas walked up to him just then. He grabbed Willy's hand and began to tug at him. Willy allowed himself to be led away.

Next thing he knew, he was in his room. The Oompa Loompa had led him to his room! Willy was being tucked into his bed just then. His little friend then came around with a mug of hot chocolate. Willy took it and sipped hesitantly. He knew that it was all to ease his nerves.

"Ok, but now I really must get back to work," he said, trying to raise himself up.

The Oompa Loompa pushed back, trying to make him sit.

"Fine. If you don't want me up, then I won't go up," Willy said, setting his mug down and then crossing his arms.

The Oompa Loompa smirked and scurried out of the room.

"Oh goody…" Willy mumbled.

_Now I __**really**__ have nothing but my thoughts. There's not even work for me!_

Willy huffed and then settled back in his bed. He let needed to relax. Sleep could distract him. His mind was racing, but it couldn't focus. So that allowed him to focus on what he wanted: sleep. Sleep. He wanted to sleep. And eventually he was able to let his eyes flutter shut and he fell asleep.

But it was a restless sleep. His mind was invaded with thoughts he didn't wish to have.

_Willy was walking through his factory, checking up on the usual things. Charlie was doing the same. And so was another person. Willy came closer to this person. He got directly behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. The response received was the person's slow turn back towards him._

_The room was strangely dark, so he couldn't see the person's face. He could see the want though. Not in her, but in himself. _

_Willy leaned forward and placed his lips on the other person's. And that's when the dark went away. He was kissing her. He was kissing Lauren._

Willy sat up, breathing hard.

"No, no, no, no, no! I _can't_! I just _can't_! It's dirty and wrong and oh no!" He threw his head into his pillows.


	6. Where Is Everyone!

"Where is everyone?!" cried out Mrs. Bucket as she paced back and forth.

"Calm down. I'm sure they're all fine," consoled Mr. Bucket.

"No! Lauren's not fine, and we know that. So at least she has an excuse, but it's an awful one. Willy, well, he works so much. But where's _Charlie_?!"

"Maybe he's working with Willy? Or even tending to Lauren?"

"Mm. I suppose," she mused, not satisfied with his answer.

Mrs. Bucket had settled a meal for everyone, feeling quite excited for that night's meal. She had special news. Now if only they were there to hear it.

"Darling, you need to relax."

"I am relaxed!" she cried out back to him.

"Darling, you need to admit it to yourself. Now please, just calm down and enjoy your own cooking for once. Charlie's old enough to take care of his own dinner now and again, so I'm sure he's fine. We'll see him before bed at least. Besides, how far could he go? He's obviously still in the factory."

Mrs. Bucket sighed.

"Just enjoy the meal and then after dinner I'll go look for him," Mr. Bucket consoled, patting his wife's elbow.

Mrs. Bucket gave her husband a weak smile.

* * *

Lauren sat up in her bed eating her food.

_Time sure does go by slowly when there's absolutely nothing to do. Too bad Charlie had to go off to work. It was nice to have at least something here. I can't stand to feel so useless. I need to do something productive._

Just then there was a banging at the door.

Lauren's eyes widened in surprise. She coughed slightly as she choked down her food.

"Come in," she spat out.

The door then burst open. Only, it wasn't exactly what Lauren expected. It was a face she was glad to see, but certainly not an expression.

* * *

**A/N- Sorry this one's so short. I had a quick minute and a cliff hanger on the mind. Just something to keep you eager for more.**


	7. Stressful, to Say the Least

"Lauren!"

"Yes? Is everything all right? What's happened?!"

"I… I… _I can't find Charlie!_"

"What?!" Lauren cried out. Normally this statement wouldn't have bothered her, but it was the panicked tone that did her in. "Mrs. Bucket, please calm down. I'm sure everything's fine! I'm sure there's no reason for you to be this distressed!"

"B-b-but there's a note!"

"What'd it say?!"

Mrs. Bucket shook her head, tears streaming down her face. She pulled out an envelope. It was unopened. She handed the envelope to Lauren, because it was addressed to her.

Hands shaking, Lauren tore open the envelope.

_Lauren,_

_I know we've only known each other for a few days, but it has felt like so much longer. But that's just it, it has felt too long. My time at the factory is over. It's yours now. I am forever gone, unless you love me. Lauren, if you love me, come to my room and there will be another note telling you what to do next._

_Love,_

_Charlie_

Lauren read the note twice over. She couldn't believe it.

_Love?! This guy really does make friends too fast!_

Finally, Lauren tore her eyes away from the note and up to Mrs. Bucket's hopeful expression.

"So?" she meekly asked.

"So… there's another note for me apparently."

_I'm not going to let him throw everything away over me. I just need to… play this by ear as best I can._

"Another note? Where?"

"In Charlie's room."

Mrs. Bucket pulled Lauren by the arm out of bed then and was pulling her out the door.

"Ouch! Mrs. Bucket! I'm in fragile condition here! Can you ease up a touch?" Lauren pleaded with the frantic woman.

Mrs. Bucket didn't say anything but loosened her grip and brought a more even pace. Soon, the two were at Charlie's door.

Without hesitation, Mrs. Bucket threw the door open and ran in. Lauren cautiously followed her. And with a quick glance they both spotted the note on Charlie's bed.

Mrs. Bucket ran over, grabbed the note, and thrust it into Lauren's hands.

Lauren gave the older woman a small smile and then slowly tore the note open.

_Lauren,_

_I am so glad that you love me! You have no idea how wonderful this really is! I love you more than anything, because we complement each other so perfectly! Oh, love, please come take me away from my misery! You will find me downtown at the O'Donnel Inn. I have room 216. Please come before midnight, because that is when I plan to end my misery myself. Lauren, my dearest love, you have saved me! I am looking forward to seeing you!_

_With all the love in the world,_

_Charlie_

As if in slow motion, the note dropped from Lauren's hands. Her head turned, still maintaining that surreal movie sense, to look at the clock. It was 11:15!

Lauren bolted out the door, forgetting all of her pain and unease. She ran, Mrs. Bucket yelling and running after her. But Lauren kept running until she got out of the factory. She quickly called a taxi and hopped in, telling the cabbie the address. She then sat back, her heart pounding a mile a minute, terrified due to the limited amount of time.

_Oh my God! I have to make it, I just have to! I could never forgive myself if he- no, don't even think it! He just- no! How could he do something so stupid! I'm not worth all this! Oh my God! It's already 11:45! We have to make it in time. Oh sweet Jesus! Oh hell! Oh fuck! Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!_

The taxicab slammed on the brakes, throwing Lauren about in her seat. Not a good thing, considering her condition.

"Sorry lass. Red light came outta nowhere."

"Red lights don't come out of nowhere! Dammit drive! Just go!"

The cab driver frowned at Lauren and turned around to face forward once more. He wasn't about to run a red light.

"Someone's life is at stake here! Drive! For the love of God, drive!"

The cab driver slowly turned and eyed Lauren.

"Lass, I think it'd be best if we got ye to the ward. Ye don't sound all right. Ye must've gotten thrown about too much."

Lauren threw the door open and ran out of the cab. She ran across the street and kept running. She didn't feel tired at all. The need to help and the fear put her into this surreal sense where the mental anguish was too much for anything physical to affect her anymore. She looked at her watch. 11:55!

But then Lauren looked down the street. There it was! The Inn! So Lauren sprinted as fast as she could, desperate to get there in time. As soon as she reached the Inn, she shoved through the doors and charged up the stairs, not daring to risk waiting on the elevator.

Lauren ran and ran, until finally she reached the door marked 216. She banged down hard on the door, yelling at it to open up.

"DON'T DO IT CHARLIE! I'M HERE! OPEN THE DOOR! I'M HERE!"

But there was no answer.

Lauren stepped back. Could she really break down a door? But, then again, intense situations such as these do give people super human abilities. People have lifted cars before!

"I'll feel this in the morning," she mumbled, just before charging and then bearing her shoulder against the door with all her might.

Lauren heard a click. She gave the door a light kick, hoping that the click meant it had been loosened enough. It had.

The door fell and Lauren ran inside, frantically searching about.

"CHARLIE?! CHARLIE?!"

And then, there was Charlie. He was… he was unconscious, lying across the cheap inn bed.

"_OHMYGODCHARLIE_!"

Lauren ran forward and grabbed Charlie. But she immediately noticed that he was breathing. There was still time! So Lauren reached under the boy and lifted him up. She took him and carried him downstairs and to the lobby, where she had someone call an ambulance. The ambulance came, and she rode in it. Only, halfway through the ride to the hospital, things started to catch up with Lauren. She suddenly blacked out.


	8. Reaction Time

Lauren's eyes slowly opened. She looked around and saw she was in a hospital bed.

_Wow. Second time I've woken like this in a week. Not exactly a good thing._

She then realized she was completely alone. Lauren sat right up, and immediately felt woozy. Her head ached incredibly.

_Last night's stress was too much on my body. But I need to find Charlie!_

Just then, a nurse was walking by, but noticed Lauren's distressed state.

"Oh no, dearie," she said in a strong Irish accent as she came over, "Ye needn't be doin' tha' righ' now. Ye need yer rest."

"Where's Charlie Bucket?"

The nurse looked away for a second and then looked back to Lauren.

"Lass, he…"

"Oh God no! Don't you _dare _tell me that he-"

"Oh, lass, no, no, no! He jus' can' have vis'tors righ' now."

"Why's that?"

"His boss ordered it. No vis'tors excep' him and family. And a similar order has been made fer you."

"And what's that?"

"No vis'tors excep' him."

With the utmost confusion, Lauren frowned to the nurse as she lightly uttered, "What?"

"Don' worry yer lil head, lass. Now if yer all righ', I need teh be gettin' teh me rounds."

Lauren nodded for the nurse to go. She just leaned her head back against her head board and closed her eyes as she thought hard.

_Why would he request that I have no visitors besides him? Not even the Buckets? Does he blame me for all of this? Is he going to fire me and doesn't want the drama of having anyone else have rough goodbyes? Do the Buckets hate me? Does…Willy hate me?_

Lauren shook her head. She could feel tears start to well up in her eyes.

_This is ridiculous. I hardly ever cry, and the thought of him not having a high opinion of me is- oh my God, what's wrong with me?_

Just then, there was a knock at her door.

_Three possibilities. Doctor, nurse, or Willy. So what's behind door number one?_

"Come in."

The door slowly opened, and in walked Willy Wonka himself. He shyly looked to Lauren, and gave a small smile.

"How are you?"

"I feel all right. My head isn't doing great, but I'll live."

Willy looked away, but then looked back to Lauren. He slowly took a few cautious steps towards the bed, but then stopped himself.

"How's Charlie doing?" Lauren asked.

Willy sighed.

_I knew she'd ask that. That note I found said that he loved her. She went to him. She loves him._

"He's sleeping right now. Doctors said that he'll be ok. He just needs to become stable enough to leave. That should probably be after tomorrow night. They said you can leave tonight if you want to, though."

"Oh. Well, what are the Buckets doing?"

"They're staying in a hotel around the corner tonight. They want to be close to Charlie. They're taking turns watching him right now. During the day they were all there."

"What time is it?"

"Around 2am."

"Oh, wow. And you've been up this whole time?"

Willy nodded. "I was worried."

_About you._

"Oh. Well, I guess Charlie'll be good and well for work before too long then."

"So do you want to go back the factory?"

Lauren gave a sheepish grin, "Can I?"

"The doctors said-"

"I know, but what do _you_ say?"

"Oh," Willy's eyebrows went to the top of his forehead, "Well, I say… I say come back."

Lauren sighed, relieved. "Then I'll come back."

Willy brightened then. "Super! I've got the elevator parked outside!"

"Is it safe?" Lauren wasn't even about to bother asking how he got it out of the factory.

"The Oompa Loompas spent hours fixing it. They say it's fine and dandy now!"

"Alrighty then. I guess we should get me checked out and up and outta here."

Willy came straight over to Lauren's side now. He had no hesitation. His fear that Lauren wouldn't return with him wasn't coming true. So Willy offered his hand to her and helped her to get out of the bed. Lauren stumbled slightly and Willy caught her. She sat back down.

"I'll go get a wheel chair," Willy offered, and then he rushed out the door.

When he returned 5 minutes later, he helped Lauren into the chair. They then scooted out of the place and took care of everything with the doctors.

Once outside, they got into the elevator and Willy started it up. Slowly, it rose from the ground and began to travel across the sky.

"Why's it going so slow?"

"I had the Oompa Loompas add an extra setting. Sick Safety. It goes like this in case anyone important isn't feeling well."

Lauren smiled to herself. She was important to him.

"So how long will it take to get back to the factory?"

"About 20 minutes."

"Plenty of time to get a profound conversation going. What do you think of the philosophical ideals of Socrates?"

Willy just blinked at her.

Lauren grinned. "Didn't think so. I was messing with you. If you wanted to get into that, I wouldn't have had a problem, but I don't think I need any mind stimulation at the moment."

Willy giggled nervously.

"So… how did you find out about what happened?"

Willy took a deep breath. "Well, I was working when I looked to the clock and saw it was 11. I hadn't eaten all day and I hadn't seen Charlie since before lunch. I decided to go check up on things. So I went out and found Mr. Bucket running around all crazy. He told me Charlie had run away. So I followed him to Charlie's room and I read the note."

_I was crushed harder than powdered powder candy._

"So he and I went out to find you guys at the inn. When we got there, we were told that you had gone to the hospital. So Mr. Bucket went to the hospital and I returned to the factory to get everyone."

"I was shocked when Mrs. Bucket came to me with a note. I didn't know what to do."

"So you followed your heart."

"I guess you could say that. I couldn't let him do anything bad on my account. So I rushed down to the inn. You couldn't lose your heir, and he couldn't lose the great life he had ahead of him."

Willy cocked his head to the side, "So why did you go to Charlie?"

"To stop him, of course! I wasn't going to let him _kill _himself! I had to do something!"

"And is that the… only… reason?"

"Well, he's my friend…" Lauren was confused by Willy's questions.

_What's he getting at?_

"But do you…"

"Do I what?"

"Do you love him?! Lauren, do you love him?!"


	9. Reason and Rationality

Lauren's jaw dropped.

_Do I love him? Why is he asking?_

"Would it interfere with work?"

Willy snapped his mouth shut.

_Why won't she answer the question? It was hard enough just to spit that out! In fact, I shouldn't have at all. Nothing should ever be spit out, for spitting is rank and foul._

"…No…"

"Then why are you asking?"

Willy closed his eyes. But he then felt something, and his eyes opened right up.

"Look at that, we're going down. We're at the factory. Time for bed! It's been a long day!"

"Willy, why did you-"

"We mustn't dilly dally! You need your rest after all of that excitement!" he cut in as he began to push Lauren's wheel chair towards her room.

"But-"

"Hush, hush. Your voice probably needs rest as well."

"Willy, this is ridic-"

"Well look at that, we're at your door. Let's open it, shall we?"

"Wi-"

"Well now I've got you inside, let's get you in bed," Willy quickly shot out, then lifting Lauren up and gently setting her into the bed.

"Willy, please just-"

"Night, night!"

And as he began to rush to the door, Lauren cried out, "WAIT!"

Willy stopped. He was facing the door, but he froze. He wouldn't move at all.

"Please, will you just… please look me in the eye. Come here, won't you?"

Silently, Willy turned. He walked over to the bedside, but kept his eyes glued to the floor.

Lauren reached up and gave Willy's arm a slight tug, getting him to lean closer to her. She lifted his chin so he looked her in the eyes.

"Willy, please, what's going on with you? I just want to know."

"I-" but he couldn't tell her. It was wrong. He couldn't even tell himself. How could he admit to these horrors?"

The whole time, Lauren watched Willy's face intently. She wouldn't break contact. She needed a hint to what was going on. Was her rationality right, or her hormones? Was he asexual, or was he… She couldn't even tell herself the possibilities.

"Willy, please."

Willy quietly looked at Lauren dead in the eyes. He couldn't speak, but his eyes gave him away. She knew.

Now Lauren had a choice to make. She could throw sense and reason out the window, or she could follow her heart.


	10. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Willy gulped.

Lauren sat herself up slightly.

Willy watched her and wouldn't move.

Lauren leaned forward slightly.

Willy closed his eyes.

Lauren closed hers.

Willy uttered a single word.

Lauren didn't hear.

And that's when it happened. They both lost their nerve. Society was too much to handle. It was in the way, so they both suddenly shot back far away from each other. They looked at each other in horror and Willy turned on his heel and ran out the door. Lauren just settled back against her pillows and sighed.

_That was really stupid. Thank God nothing happened, but how can I ever face him again?_

And at the same moment that Lauren was thinking about how horrid that had been, Willy was thinking the same as he slammed his door shut and slid to the floor up against his door.

_That nasty, disgusting girl! What do I do?! Oh no, oh no! What do I do?! _

But that was just it. How could she ever face him? What was he to do?

And Willy suddenly knew what it was. So he got up and went out and over into Lauren's room, maintaining a steady pace and a stoic expression.

Once inside, he said, "You have to go."

Lauren closed her eyes tightly and nodded. She couldn't speak or look up for fear that she would cry. She had ruined her great opportunity.

As Willy then turned, he suddenly felt choked up as well. He didn't want her to go, but she needed to. It was for the best. For both of them.

So once morning came, the Oompa Loompas packed Lauren up, which wasn't hard since she had basically chosen to live out of her suitcase. Willy wouldn't leave his own room. He couldn't. This all had to be done before the Buckets could see her, and Willy certainly couldn't look at her without tears forming in his own eyes.

The Oompa Loompas helped Lauren out of bed and into a wheel chair. She was dead silent. There was nothing she could say.

But when they pushed her out of her room, she made them stop. Lauren asked them to leave her for a few moments, so they went. She rolled closer to Willy's door. Not a single move was made to knock or make her presence known, but Willy knew she was there. He sighed.

"I'm sorry," was all Lauren could say before she began to turn herself away.

Willy had been sitting against the door with his head in his hands, but his head shot up then.

_No._

He got up and threw the door open.

"No."

Lauren was surprised by his sudden presence, but she was already confused by his lack of verbal explanation.

"No? No what?"

"No. Don't be sorry. You've brought so much to us in only a few days. Imagine what would have happened if you were here the whole two months."

"But I won't be."

Willy sighed and looked down, "But you won't be…"

Lauren grabbed Willy's hand and tugged slightly to pull him closer, "Don't mumble."

Instantly Willy looked Lauren up in the eyes and smiled. She really was meant for the factory.

"Well, I suppose I should get going now. I've got a plane to catch."

Willy shook his head, to which Lauren raised her eyebrows.

"I don't have a plane to catch? And why might that be?"

"B-b-because…"

"Because…?"

"I-" but Willy cut himself off then by throwing himself forward. His lips met Lauren's in a moment of bliss.

Lauren was surprised, but immediately returned the kiss. This was a damn good reason for her not to have a plane to catch.


	11. How To Start Something New

Willy began to pull back for air, but Lauren didn't want the moment to end. If it stopped, would it ever return?

But, alas, it had to be done.

So, there they were, Lauren in her wheel chair looking up, Willy standing looking down, both with deep, piercing stares into one another.

"This is wrong."

"The Buckets will be gone until tomorrow at least."

"So what do we do?"

"Whatever feels… right."

Lauren nodded, agreeing with Willy. A small smile spread across her lips, knowing what this all would entail.

Willy stepped behind Lauren and wheeled her into his room.

"You know, I don't think I've seen your room yet."

"Well we can't have that," Willy happily responded when the lights suddenly came on.

Lauren smiled to herself, remembering how the lights came on by thought.

"I see you thought to turn the light on," she frowned at her own sad pun.

"I thought only of you," Willy smiled.

_Aww! That's so sweet!_

Lauren slowly got up out of the wheel chair. She could walk, it just wasn't recommended at this point. No harm in walking over to the bed.

Willy smiled to her as she sat down on the side of his king size bed. He couldn't believe it. Lauren was alone with him! Oh no! Lauren was alone with him!

Noticing Willy's change in demeanor, Lauren asked, "What's wrong?"

"You're so young-" he started.

"And how much do you wanna bet I'm more experienced than you?"

Willy's eyebrows shot up to the top of his forehead.

_That dirty, nasty girl!_

"Not like that. I'm a virgin. I'm just assuming I've kissed more. You're a virgin too, aren't you?"

"Oh, well, I…uh," he stammered.

"Don't be afraid to tell me. You can tell me anything and I won't judge."

_And yet I judge her so much. She's too good for me._

"I'm not a virgin."

"_Oh._"

"But it was only a few times! When I was young and not as brilliant as I am now!"

"And how young was that?"

"Well, I was in my 20s…"

"So what does that make me? A stupid fuck? Just here to get rid of those blue balls with my wild hormones?"

"No, no, no, I didn-"

"I'll just go," Lauren stated, rising from the bed.

"Please, no!" Willy rushed to her side and placed a hand on each of her shoulders.

"Please, no," he repeated softly.

Lauren looked into his violet eyes and just wanted to melt. But she wouldn't. She needed to stand her ground.

"Willy, I-"

But he cut her off by giving her a fierce kiss. Lauren eagerly returned it. How could she not? But no, she needed to- but oh, it felt so nice.

Lauren parted her lips as Willy's requested entry. As their tongues tangoed, Lauren gently began to lower back to the bed. She was lying down with eyes closed, as Willy lowered with her. He placed a hand behind her head and the other behind the small of her back. Hers were wrapped around his neck.

But then Lauren broke away.

Willy looked to her questioningly.

"I- I don't think I'm ready for this. I'm sorry."

Once again she tried to make her way off, but Willy placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him.

"Lauren, would you at least stay here tonight? I won't do anything. I promise. I just need to have you by my side."

Lauren gave him a weak smile and nodded. She could stand staying the night.

* * *

**A/N: All right people, so I'm a little stuck. Any recommendations on where I should take this? Is it too soon, or... (_eyebrows wiggle_) I need some input to end my writer's block!**


	12. Facts to Cover

Willy and Lauren both changed into their pajamas and brushed their teeth before crawling into his bed. They said their goodnights and closed their eyes. Until Lauren's suddenly burst wide open, as she was laughing like a hyena.

"What, what?" Willy quickly asked.

"We-, we-," Lauren panted, trying to regain her composure.

"We what?"

"We got in bed and it's still morning!"

And that's when Willy started laughing too. Things moved so fast, they both just assumed it was night time. It was still only 10 a.m.!

So the two got out and got dressed again, feeling the fools for thinking it was night. They then had breakfast sent in and they sat together over their candy bacon and eggs.

"So…" Lauren started, munching on licorice bacon.

"So?" Willy returned.

"So do you want to explain what's going on here?"

"We're… eating breakfast…" he frowned down at his food, trying to understand Lauren's question.

"I mean us. Care to explain _us_?"

"Oh," he started, followed by several sheepish giggles.

"I'm here for work, but it has obviously turned in another direction. We need to figure out what _exactly_ that is, simply because there's so much at stake."

Willy simply nodded.

"Well, maybe you telling me about your past would be a start."

"My… past…?"

"Yes. More specifically: your 20s. And how that led to now."

"Do you really-"

"Yes. I need to know. You've been through this before and I haven't. Frankly, that changes everything, especially in the legal aspect of things. Speaking of which, have there been other juveniles?"

"No! I never thought that- and, well… no!"

"So you've never been in a relationship with someone who was a minor after you became an adult."

"No, no, no!"

"Good. That helps. So…"

Willy raised his eyebrows, waiting for the question that was vexing Lauren.

"So… when was the last time you got laid?"

Willy sputtered and choked on his hot chocolate that he had chosen to take a sip out of at the worst possible moment.

"I need to know how active you've been, if you plan on us taking this _there_."

"But, I-"

"Willy, why are you having such difficulty being open with me?"

He sighed and took a deep breath. "Five years."

"And how many?"

"Times or…" he let the other possibility linger.

"The latter will do fine. I don't know if I want to know how many fucks you've had."

"Please don't use naughty words like that and it's three."

_Three women? Well, that's not so bad. He's obviously not the prude I thought he was, but that's not like man-whore area either._

"Ok, this last bit is important."

Willy nodded, eager to make sure everything is taken care of. He enjoyed order in his disorderly ways.

"What did you mean when you were talking about when you were young?"

"What?"

"Your excuse about your sexual experience is that it was when you were young. I'm much younger than you were when you've done it. I need you to explain."

"Oh? Well, I… I wasn't really ready. The first time I was 23 and the girl didn't love me. We had been going out for a while and she said that she loved my chocolate ideas. This was when the factory was still quite new. She told me that… that she could help me get my factory out there… for a favor. She really like me, and wanted me to do that. I agreed. But, she couldn't do anything for the factory. She only said it because she wanted to do it with me. So my first time was lost to a lie."

"That's awful."

Willy nodded, "And the second one… the second one I was in love. I was 27 when I met her and we were together for several years. We were even engaged. The time for the wedding came. She didn't."

Lauren silently nodded. She didn't want to comment on someone that he had loved. For her it was worse than hearing that his first time was lost to a lie. He _had_ loved before.

"The third one was before I reopened the factory with the contest that Charlie won. She didn't know who I was. I was glad to keep my reputation with the factory out of the way. It would keep my recipes safe. I didn't want anyone else, though. It had been so long since the second one and she broke my heart. Well, the third one I didn't fall in love. We ended up just friends. We tried it, but it didn't work out."

"Oh."

"Does that help?" Willy eagerly asked, for he wanted Lauren to be happy with everything always.

Lauren just nodded her head slightly. Tonight she wasn't going to be ready. She had taken in a lot of information, and it had to be processed. She still needed to know how this was going and how it could ultimately work.

"So is that all?"

"One more question. Have you been tested?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"I'm clean as the chocolate in my river."

"Alright, good."

"So are ya ready to work?" he suddenly brightly asked.

Lauren looked up to him, surprised, but nodded slightly. She could work today. Personal thinking could be put off until tonight.

So with that she slowly rose to her feet. Willy did what he could to support her, but she brushed him off slightly. Things were fine, they were just… _different_


	13. Anything Wrong?

The pair headed down to the Nut Sorting Room to check up on the order of things.

"Well, everything seems fine here!" Lauren said as she tried to turn out quickly.

She was stopped by Willy's hand, which grabbed onto her shoulder. Lauren closed her eyes briefly at the contact.

He turned her back to look at him and he gave her a small smile.

"No silly. We have to check each squirrel's progress and make sure they're happy."

Lauren shaped her mouth into a silent "Oh."

"Come on," he gestured for her to follow him, when she stopped him.

"Wouldn't it be faster if we each took half?"

"But I thought-"

"It'd be more efficient so we could get more done."

Willy sadly nodded. He wanted to get as much done as possible. So the two were on opposite sides of the large room as they worked. They were far from one another. They worked entirely singularly.

When Lauren finished, she saw that Willy was still working. She left without saying a word to him. She moved on to her next task.

Once Willy was all done, he looked over to Lauren- or at least where she had been.

_Why'd she leave? Why didn't she at least tell me?_

Instead of going to his own work, he went to look for the girl. He found her putting together samples in the Inventing Room.

"Lauren?"

"Hmm?" she didn't even look up from her work.

"Why did you leave?"

"I was done and wanted to get more work done."

"You could have told me."

"I suppose."

"Lauren, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

Willy made his way over to Lauren.

"Why won't you look at me?"

Lauren stopped and looked at him, an expression of annoyance had spread over her visage.

"All right, I'm looking at you now."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, ok?"

"But-"

"But what Willy?"

"Do you still love me?"

"I wasn't aware that I ever said I did."

The coldness of the words struck Willy hard. He turned on his heel and fled. He couldn't stand the pain of being near her. What would he do? For that matter, what _had _he done? Why was she so upset with him?

Willy made his way into the Smashing Room. This was where bite size candies were made by smashing the original sized ones. He needed to smash away his pain, his anger, and his fears.

Meanwhile, Lauren finished up her work, maintaining a stoic expression the entire time. Once done, she picked up a small lunch from the cafeteria. She finished it quickly and then went back to doing more work. Not a single thought ran through her mind the entire time. She knew that if she let one through, it would tear her to pieces. Lauren didn't dare think of what she had done.

At 9 p.m., both Lauren and Willy stopped their work and made their way to their rooms. They went down opposite ends of the hallway, and then saw each other when they reached the doors.

"Lauren-"

Willy was cut off by Lauren going into her room and slamming the door shut. So the chocolateer went into his own bedroom and slunk to the floor and up against the door. Silent tears streamed down his cheeks. His knees were brought up to his chest and he rocked himself. This was terrible, just awful.

As soon as Lauren slammed the door shut she screamed.

"ARGH! WHY?! WHY THE FUCK AM I DOING THIS?!"

She slammed her fists down on her dresser as she stared into the mirror. Her eyes quickly filled with tears, but she didn't dare let them fall. No. The pain could sit, but she couldn't let the visual of tears release it.

"NO!" she cried out as she grabbed a book and threw it at the wall behind her.

Lauren dropped to her knees and clawed her hands into the rug.

"I LOVE HIM, DAMMIT, I LOVE HIM!"

Lauren slammed her fist down into the rug a few times as she let a few sobs escape from her throat. Her eyes were tightly shut, but the tears were not allowed escape. Before long, Lauren curled up on the ground, hating herself, the world, and most of all Willy Wonka.


	14. Moving On

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

"Hello?"

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

"Lauren?"

Lauren rolled over onto her side and looked up to the door.

"Lauren?"

"Hmm?" she grunted, not really wanting to get up.

"Open up."

"Why?"

"I've been in the hospital and you won't see me?"

Realization then struck Lauren. It was Charlie! She pushed herself up off the ground and stumbled over to the door. She unlocked and opened the door.

"Hi!"

"Lauren! Are you ok?!"

"Yeah… why?"

Charlie looked over Lauren's messy hair and bloodshot eyes.

"You just don't look… yourself."

"Oh," she scratched the back of her head, "I fell asleep on the floor. Doesn't do the body well."

"You shouldn't do that," Charlie warmly replied, then inviting himself in.

Lauren just watched Charlie, surprised that he'd just come in like that.

Charlie then wrapped an arm around Lauren and guided her to the bed, where he then sat them both down on the edge.

"So Charlie… how are you feeling?"

"Much better! Especially since I knew what I had waiting for me…"

Lauren coughed.

"Hmm, yeah. Well this factory sure is great…"

"But you're even better," he smiled.

"You don't need to get into all of this. You only just got back."

"But this is what I've been looking forward to. I don't want to waste a second away from you."

Lauren gave Charlie a small smile.

"Yeah, well I understand that."

"Willy gave me today off to rest and do whatever I want."

"That's great."

"I asked him if you could get today off too…"

"What'd he say?"

"He said it was up to you. He said you've been weird and didn't know what you would want to do."

"Well I actually do like getting work done…"

"But I only get today off…" Charlie gave Lauren a pleading smile.

Lauren sighed. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well I wanted to show you around London!"

"Umm… sure, why not?"

"Ok, let's go!" Charlie cried out, pulling Lauren up and running out the door with her.

Quickly, they made their way down the hall and soon found themselves at the door out. They also found themselves looking straight at Willy Wonka.

"Hey Willy! Lauren and I are going out around town for the day."

Willy put on a false smile and giggled nervously. "Heheh, well have fun!"

He stepped aside for them to go out. Charlie went straight out, but Lauren lingered, and looked up into Willy's eyes a moment. She immediately regretted it, because seeing the pain in his eyes brought the utmost guilt to her. She had broken his heart and knew it.

"Lauren, come on!"

Lauren ran out the door then. She didn't want to keep Charlie waiting, and she didn't want to have to look at Willy anymore.

* * *

Charlie led Lauren to the park, and before long, they fell into an even pace around the park which they continued to repeat.

"So Lauren, what do you think of all this?"

Lauren had been gazing off to the side, but then brought her attention back to Charlie.

"All of what?"

"Well… you and me?"

"Umm… I don't know… What do you think of it?"

"I love you, and you came after me, so I think you love me too. Don't you?"

Lauren closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

_No Charlie, I don't love you_, she thought, _I love Willy. But I barely know him… and I barely know you… You need me right now, though. You're delicate. I need to do what's best for all of us. I need to do what's legal and safe._

She turned and looked Charlie dead in the eyes.

"I love you Charlie Bucket."

Charlie smiled so wide you wouldn't have thought it possible.

"So Lauren?"

"Yes Charlie?"

"Does that mean that I can… kiss you?"

"Of course Charlie," she replied with a small smile.

They stopped walking then, and Charlie cupped Lauren's cheek. He leaned forward slowly, and placed his lips atop hers. Charlie then pulled away from the quick peck beaming.

"I love you so much, Lauren."

_What the hell have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

"Mrs. Bucket, have they returned yet?" Willy asked as he entered the small home.

"Why no, Willy, not yet. I'm sure they won't be long though. Dinner's soon."

"Heheh, of course," he said, pulling out a seat for himself.

"Oh Willy, I have such good news to give everyone tonight."

"That's great, Mrs. Bucket."

"What's great?" Charlie asked as he stepped in, with Lauren right behind him. Their fingers were intertwined, and Lauren had a very convincing look of happiness. One would have thought her in absolute bliss. She was in no such state.

"Charlie! How was your day?"

"Wonderful! After your great news, I have some of my own!"

Lauren silently went over to the table, and before she could pull out her seat, Charlie rushed over and took care of it for her. She smiled to them and then sat down. Of course, now she was sitting right across from Willy.

Willy smiled and then looked down. He wanted to hide his pain since Lauren was so happy. It was easier this way.

Before long everyone was sitting at the table, eager to hear Mrs. Bucket's news.

"Well, Lauren, you've had quite the impact on us all here. You've only been here a week now, but a few days ago, after the positive influence from you, I decided to look into some things. I really don't have much to do here, so I've found something to do."

"What is it?" Charlie eagerly asked.

"I'm opening a restaurant!"

"Really? That's great!"

"Your mother and I have looked around and found a site just down the street," Mr. Bucket added.

"And I'm Calling it _Buckets of Bliss_. What do you think?"

"It's catchy, Mrs. Bucket," Lauren told the beaming woman, "and very appropriate for your wonderful food."

"Well, now that you all know about my news, I want to hear Charlie's! What is it, love?"

Charlie rose from his seat then.

"It's big news."

He looked over to Lauren and took her hand. He smiled to her.

"Lauren and I are in love."

"That's wonderful, Charlie!" both of the elder Buckets cried in unison.

"But that's not all."

Willy had been looking down at his food when Charlie started speaking, but looked up for this.

Charlie got down on one knee and looked up to Lauren.

Lauren's eyes got real big. She was petrified of what was going to happen.

"Lauren," he reached into his pocket, "will you…"

He pulled out a box and opened it.

"Will you marry me?" he asked, taking out the ring for Lauren, looking up to her with all of the hope in the world.


	15. Stage Happiness

Lauren looked down at Charlie in absolute shock.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me!"

"Lauren, I love you!"

"That's fantastic, but marriage?! After a week?!"

Willy couldn't help but grin to himself. He quickly put his hand up to his mouth, trying to make it look like it had to do with his eating.

Charlie looked down, for he was heartbroken at this.

"I thought you came to save me for our love," he mumbled.

Lauren reached over and grabbed Charlie.

"Excuse us," she said as she pulled him outside.

"Charlie, listen, love needs time to develop. Most people aren't ready to propose until they've been together for at least a year!"

"But I'm ready now."

"That may be so, but we need assurance of stability," _since I certainly don't have the stability you need in a relationship._

"So what do we do?"

"Well… there's always a promise ring? It's to say that someday you'll propose when we're both ready."

"Here then, this can be a promise ring!" he thrust the ring towards her.

"No, that's obviously an engagement ring. Go get your money back and just get something simple, ok?"

Charlie nodded. Lauren placed her hand under his chin and raised it.

"Now keep those spirits high for your mom and the rest of dinner."

After dinner, Charlie insisted on walking Lauren back to her room. Of course, this meant them and Willy taking the elevator to their hallway. So the whole time Willy got to watch them. He got to see Charlie hold onto Lauren's hand. He got to see Lauren return Charlie's smiles. He got to see their returned joy.

_I thought that marriage proposal would have ended it all! _he thought, _but at least she didn't say yes._

Soon they were all walking down the hallway and found themselves outside the bedroom doors.

"Goodnight Lauren."

"Goodnight Charlie."

Charlie then leaned forward and placed his lips atop hers. He moved them just slightly, enough to leave a sweet lingering kiss.

He pulled back with a smile and then made his way back down the hallway.

"You seemed to enjoy yourself this evening," stated Willy quite blankly.

He had been standing at his door the whole time, yet to enter his room. Charlie had paid him no heed in showing his young affection.

"He's sweet."

"I guess you do love him then."

"Yeah… I guess I do…"

Willy caught Lauren's reluctance and cocked his head slightly to the side.

"It's only been a day, Lauren. Are you already unhappy?"

"No, no, no," she quickly tried to cover up, suddenly grinning wildly. The grin only made her grief more evident.

"I see…"

"What Charlie and I have is healthy," Lauren said as she turned on her heel to enter her room.

"Unlike what we have which is true."

Lauren closed her eyes and sighed.

"Goodnight Willy."

"Goodnight Lauren."

And they both went into their rooms. Lauren held herself and thought of the day. How could Charlie be willing to move so fast? It was too much. But he was fragile. She was afraid what he would do if she broke his heart.

_Would he become suicidal again?_

Lauren thought hard. What if he had some deeper condition? If that was the case, he needed to be treated. What was she to do to fix all of this?

While Lauren was thinking hard, Willy was doing some thinking of his own.

_Why is Lauren doing this to herself? Even if things slow down, she can't be happy with him. How can I make her see this?_

Willy sighed and made his way over to his bed. He sat down and took his shoes off. Then he laid back with his hands behind his head. His eyebrows were furrowed as ideas bustled through his mind.

Willy then shot right up.

"I've got it!"


	16. On The Road Or On Our Minds

The next day Mr. and Mrs. Bucket got up early. They went out to get the restaurant running. It wouldn't be until the end of the summer, though, because it needed to be redesigned and staff needed to be hired. The couple couldn't wait to get started!

"Charlie, we're off to the restaurant," Mrs. Bucket called into her son's room.

"Ok. Hey, you know Willy gave me today off too. Do you think I could come along?"

"Oh I'd love that! And you could give me your expert opinions as well," Mrs. Bucket smirked back at her son.

"All right, just give me a moment to get ready and tell Lauren I'm going."

Charlie then rushed down towards Lauren's room. He knocked on the door but didn't get an answer. So he tried once again. Still no answer. He tried once more, and-

"Whadayawan?"

"Lauren!"

"Oh, yeah, hi Charlie…" Lauren sleepily replied. She wasn't all there quite yet.

"I'm going with my parents to help them with the restaurant today. Is that all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, go have fun…" she slurred just slightly. She was _really _tired.

"As long as you're all right then, I'll be off!" he happily replied, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and then rushing off.

Lauren slammed the door shut and climbed right back in the bed. Her sleep craving mind seemed to let the conversation just disappear.

* * *

"I don't see why I didn't think of it before. It's simple, really. I mean, all answers will be solved with this simple serum. That's all it takes. I mean, it is an answer solving serum. Charlie didn't like the name. He thought it should be problem solving or answer finding serum. That's just not right. But oh, I've let my mind wander. And now here I am!" Willy happily talked to himself as he charged down the hallways.

He found himself now inside a room full of all sorts of concoctions that were going to be added for that special something in his candies, but they just need to get a kink out of the special or find a something.

Willy's gloved hand slowly hovered across a long counter. This counter had built in compartments, at least a thousand, each with a test tube inside. And then he found it. Willy's hand quickly grasped the answer solving serum.

"It's in need of a new test anyhow, so it really does no harm. She's an intern. It's her job to do this sort of thing."

Willy was doing all he could to convince himself, without even realizing it. He thought he was convinced, but he wasn't. In the back of his mind, he knew there was something gravely wrong with this serum. That problem only intensified since, considering a candy hadn't been specifically concocted for the serum yet, there was one peculiar way to administer it. And there was really, truly, one way only.

* * *

Lauren rolled over as sun began to break through her window. No sun could make her get up. Sleep was just too lovely. So she turned away from the window and was facing the door, though still very much asleep, when it slowly crept open.

Soft footsteps traversed her rug. A weight settled onto the bed. The weight moved, slowly closer to her. Lips cautiously landed atop hers.

Lauren moved her lips just slightly in response.

_Charlie…_ she hazily thought.

_No, too nice…_

_Willy…_

Her lips began to move more eagerly against the others. The owner of the other pair of lips was trying to move back, but with a giggle, Lauren reached up and wrapped her arms around the figure. Slowly, she opened her eyes… and screamed.


	17. Soaring with the Serum

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Lauren shrilly cried out. She couldn't believe it.

_I just kissed a fucking Oompa Loompa!_

The little man quickly scrambled out the door and ran off to his next designated task.

Lauren wiped her mouth off in disgust.

"What _was _that?!"

She couldn't help but feel a slight change in things though. Lauren had always been a literal and logical thinker, but things seemed so much more basically laid out now. What was this now?

"Did you do it?"

The Oompa Loompa gave Willy confirmation of completing the strange task. Of course, the worker found no irregularity in it. He had certainly done stranger in the factory.

"Good. And how'd it go?"

The Oompa Loompa then went into details of the encounter. Willy shuddered, for he had hoped that Lauren wouldn't see the Oompa Loompa. Oh well. The task was complete. The job was done. The effects simply needed to… take effect.

"You do understand, don't you?"

The Oompa Loompa nodded. He immediately caught on to what the chocolateer was doing, even though he did not. He was rationalizing aloud, but needed ears to help with the reassurance.

"I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. If it was me, something we would both regret could have happened. Or she could have hated me. I would have really regretted that. She'd hate for me to just come in and kiss her when she's with… well, you know… Anyway, it's a shame that's the only way to administer the serum. What was it that happened before? Oh yes, he broke out in hives. That would have been awful. So that's the only way until I find the proper candy. And you went the exact way I said. You went up, over, curl, push, and left. Left is always the answer. Right is never right. You think people would learn these things? And I wonder if Lauren has started learning from the serum yet? Why, of course she has. That's how it works. So what do I do? Do I go to her or wait for her to come to me? She may not be able to find me here, though, since I'm so far in the factory. But she knows I work. I'll just stay here. No, I'll go. I'll stay. Going really is best. I should stay, right? That's it, I'm going," Willy finally concluded his unintentional monologue, but didn't budge an inch. His feet were firmly planted to the ground. His mind said go, but something in his heart told him it was best to stay.

The Oompa Loompa cocked his head to the side. He examined his boss, and had a feeling he didn't belong. Slowly he edged his way out.

Lauren sat down on her bed, head in her hands.

Everything was spinning so fast, and yet slowly it became all too clear. This was going downhill. Good intentions don't always have good results. Lauren had so many things that she knew she had to do. What was necessary was obvious; the execution was not.

"Fukitol. Baby steps. Take fucking baby steps. I can't always take it all on at once. Especially with borders involved. One. Person. At. A time."

Lauren made her way out the door of her room. She let her feet lead her. She wasn't sure which necessary task was going to be taken care of first, but she had a hunch. And her hunches usually proved to be correct.

So Lauren just took it. One. Step. At. A time. She was on her way to take care of the first person. But as clarity slipped away, she still knew her tasks, but the problems that could erupt from it faded to the back of her mind. No longer was she aware of them all. The answers weren't being found anymore. She had found enough. And there she was. The Serum Room. She knew what was in there and what had come out. Clarity made it all too clear. Lauren also knew _who_ was in there.

The handle was turning. This room was one of very few that actually had a door with a handle, but Willy could see it slowly turning. And the more it turned, the slower it seemed. Anticipation was horrible. Sweat was building up on the edge of his scalp, ready to fall. But it didn't. Because the door opened.

"Hi."

So simple. So singular. So plain. And yet it said so much.

"Hiya," he returned, a bit too happily.

"I, umm…"

"Mumbler."

"Pardon?"

"I can't hear you when you mumble. So don't do it. We can't be without that great voice of yours."

Lauren smiled softly. Something so strange to break the intensity. But it broke it.

"Willy, I don't know what I'm doing with Charlie."

"Frankly, I don't know either, and I'm not sure if I want to know."

"Not like that, Willy. I don't know _why_ I'm with him. I thought it'd help him, but it won't. It can't. He's so fragile; I don't see how I ever saw this ending well."

"Well anyone could have told you that."

"I could do without the sarcasm."

"Sorry. Continue."

"I love _you_. I can't keep hurting us all. I need to know for sure how you feel. All I've done is bring pain here. Unless I know how you feel, I think it'd be better for everyone if I went back home," _after only a week and a half_, she sadly thought to herself.

"Disjla…."

"What was that?"

"Moaudsfdl…"

"Are you the mumbler now?"

"Don't go! No, please don't go, I LOVE YOU!"

"Which brings on another issue."

Confused, Willy simply frowned at Lauren. He professes his love for her, and she talks of more issues?

"Willy, we barely know each other. We've obviously become close _very_ quickly, but we don't know each other as well as we think we do. And then there's the legal side of things."

"Lauren, I'm well aware of the legal issues, and I'm a very disciplined individual. And with the utmost desire not to love you, I do."

Lauren gave soft smile to Willy. She couldn't help it. The sweetness just gave her a special feeling.

"And Lauren, you're an intern. You're here to learn. I want all the best for you."

And that was it. She was putty in his hands. They were on opposite sides of the room, but without even realizing it, they were suddenly upon each other, tightly embracing. Lauren worked her lips desperately atop Willy's, which were moving at an eager pace as well. Lauren's arms had worked their way under Willy's, with one hand grasping at his back and the other clutching his head. Willy simply held onto Lauren's waist. They lived an eternity in a second. Their passion was so close that they knew their love just worked.

And soon Lauren found herself working on the buttons of Willy's shirt. His hat and jacket were long gone. She soon got the garment off and threw it down to join the others. She needed him so bad.

Her lips traveled south, planting a soft trail down his shoulders and chest, all the way down to his stomach, before working their way back up to his mouth to return to their prior workings.

But he stopped her. _He_ stopped _her_.

"Lauren. We can't," he stated firmly, but sadly. There was a tightness in his pants that disagreed with his words.

"Yes. We. Can," she protested in between kisses across his jaw.

"Lauren, you said it yourself. You're not ready," he said, now pulling her back to stand at arm's length.

"But I-"

"You're smarter than this. We can't."

Lauren sighed. He was right. But it struck her hard. How had the rationality left her so quickly? It was a foolish thing done by a fool in love, but she had never let this sort of thing take her over before. She needed reassurance that it wouldn't happen again.

"I'm sorry Willy. I got us both so worked up-"

"It's not your fault. We both need to stand back. We need a system."

"You read my mind. A system to keep us safe."

"How about this: during the day, all work. Nothing else but work."

"Sounds good. But night is a time for passion to take control it seems…"

"And really there's no one that knows of this or can know, is there?"

"No, there isn't. We need something extra to hold us back. We get too close too fast."

"I've got it!" Willy exclaimed, quickly marching out of the room.

Lauren looked after him, confused, but then quickly gathered up his shirt, hat, and jacket before hurriedly following.

Willy went all the way down the hall before realizing something was wrong. He paused, and that was when Lauren caught up to him. HIS CLOTHES!

Willy practically leaped into a corner, pulling Lauren along with him. He was so exposed out in the open! He made Lauren play lookout while he buttoned up and made himself spiffy.

Then he charged on once again. So the two soon found themselves in the Anti Attraction Room.

"I don't want to be unattracted to you."

"No, no, there are varying levels of it. And not all products affect all areas. There's one chocolate that makes it so we aren't, well, _capable_, for about 6 hours. Do you catch my meaning?"

"Ha, it's like reverse Viagra."

"Heh, yeah, you can look at it like that…"

"So let's get some for later and get work now, aye?"

"Yeah. Off to the Wonkavator!"

"You did _not_ just say that."

"What? I thought I'd try it out."

"Well, you tried. And you failed. Now let's get down to that Serum Room. We need to figure out candies for some of those things. They need **other** administration methods."

Willy gulped.

"Sorry," he let out meekly.

"I just don't get why you sent in an Oompa Loompa. Why couldn't you just come…?" she began to ramble as they made their way down the hall and into the glass elevator. Her words were, like his earlier ones to the Oompa Loompa who lip locked with her, simply for her own comfort and it helped to have someone to listen. They were more perfectly fit for one another than they ever would realize.


	18. Working for the Night

"Licorice."

"Lollipop."

"Licorice."

"Lollipop."

"Licorice."

"Lollipop."

"LICORICE!"

"LOLLIPOP!"

Willy sighed heavily.

"If it's going to have such a strong effect, it needs to be something people bite lightly, like licorice."

"But people only lick lollipops. The effects wouldn't do any harm at all if a fool ate the whole thing at once. Besides, it's sweet and needs something to that effect. Besides, some people stuff their face with licorice. I know I do."

Willy closed his eyes for only a second, trying to push the thought aside. Work was for work only. She probably didn't even realize that sounded suggestive.

"Sorry."

"Hmm?" Willy quickly opened his eyes and surveyed Lauren.

"Bit suggestive, wasn't it?"

"Oh, uh… no, nuh-uh, not at all. No sir-y-bob-cat-tail."

"Which is why you look flushed over now. So… lollipops?"

Willy nodded submissively.

But he then suddenly took in his breath sharply.

"Yes?" Lauren eyed him, confused by this seemingly unsupported reaction.

"Both."

"Both?"

"If we twirl the licorice about into a spiral, we could then smooth it over with a lollipop coat on the outside with licorice on the inside."

"I love it. Guess that's why you're the boss."

"Uh-huh," Willy smiled broadly.

The two then marched out of the room, ready to put the ideas to work. If they could get production moving quickly enough, they may have a new product to show off to Charlie by the time he got home.

They both stopped dead.

Looking directly at each other, they both let out, "Charlie."

Lauren quickly backed herself hard into a wall.

"Dammit!" she cried out.

"No need for naughty words," Willy let out quietly, slumping down slowly against the opposite wall.

"What're we going to do about him? He just got out of the hospital a few days ago from attempting _suicide_ over _me_. We can't just spring this on him."

Willy shook his head sadly.

"I should just go home."

"But I need you! I mean just look at the ideas we just came up with!"

"You came up with that."

"You came up with the lollipops, which brought the idea to a whole new level. And the candy cars!"

"Hmm," Lauren grinned faintly, "yeah…"

"So we just don't tell Charlie."

"What?!"

"Well, not yet, anyway. You can keep him… happy, but don't lead him on to think it'll go any farther."

"Ok… yeah, so I can let him down easy and over time. Hell, I may even get _him_ to dump _me_!"

Willy nodded softly but directly to Lauren.

"We have the nights, anyway."

Lauren grinned and then pulled herself up. She offered a hand to Willy to help him up as well. He took it and she tugged.

"You know it's to _help_ you. I can't pull you up totally."

Willy gave an embarrassed grin and then Lauren helped him up. They then made their way in separate directions. Lauren would go to administer the Lover's Gaze Serum into the lollipop design, while Willy would take care of the spiral licorice. The ideas would go into combined production in an hour.

* * *

Several hours later, a regular system was fully developed and it was close to dinner time. Lauren and Willy made their way down to the Buckets'.

"You know, the sun's down now. It's technically night," Willy cooed into Lauren's ear as they walked hand in hand.

"And Charlie will be with us. We can do something later."

Willy frowned but gave Lauren a quick peck on the cheek. She beamed to him and then turned her attention back to their destination. They were there.

"No more," she whispered, letting go of his hand and beginning to walk ahead of him slightly.

Willy reached out and grabbed Lauren's shoulder. He pulled her down, quickly placing a hand on her lower back as he eased her down. He placed his lips against hers for a moment, and then swooped her back up.

"That last bit to keep you eager for later," he grinned.

Lauren looked flushed and then made it so Willy was the one walking slightly ahead. She had to regain her composure. She had been taken off guard and had totally swooned. Who would have expected that?

Willy opened the door then and Lauren followed after him inside.

"Look at this bit of brainstorming you missed today," Willy called over to Charlie, pulling out a Lover's Elixir Pop.

Charlie came over and took it.

"What's it do?" he asked.

"With a single lick, you lock gaze with your true love, if they're within sight range, that is."

"Well I have to try this!" Charlie exclaimed, but just before he could place his tongue on the sweet substance, his mom snatched it up.

"After dinner, Charlie."

Charlie pouted and sat down in his seat, with Lauren grinning, amused at his shamefaced state brought on by his mother. She sat beside Charlie, but across from Willy.

_He caught me off guard earlier. I need to get some payback_, she thought, a wicked smirk on her face as the food began to be passed around.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, so I've got some muse for a new Johnny story. Problem is, I don't know which idea to go with. I was thinking Sam from Benny and Joon, Corso from The Ninth Gate, Ichabod from Sleepy Hollow, or doing a fic with Johnny himself. What's your preference?**


	19. Having Some Fun

"So where did the idea come from?" Charlie asked as he spooned up some of his mashed potatoes.

"Well we needed something to store the serum, and brainstorming just sort of led up to it," Lauren nodded.

"You three are all so brilliant. Your minds together will make the factory better than ever," Mrs. Bucket beamed.

"Thanks, Mrs. Bucket," Willy smiled to the woman, "so how is your restaurant starting off?"

"Oh, today was quite boring, really. We just went through basic tile work and such," Mr. Bucket piped in.

"But the designs are fabulous!" Charlie let out.

This got the boy and his parents deep into a conversation about what more could be done with the place. Willy was listening, but he and Lauren both found themselves more interested in their food.

Lauren then caught on to the distraction at hand. The timing was perfect, but where to begin?

"Oops," she let out somewhat quietly, but loud enough for Willy to hear.

He looked up from his food and over to Lauren. She had spilled gravy… right down… the front… of her...

Quickly Willy shook his head.

_Later. And I'll take the serum then. Later._

Lauren reached down, then, since she simply could not leave the food there. She scooped right between her breasts were the gravy landed and got it off. Slowly she then took her finger and placed it in her mouth, moving it slowly around just a bit, and then removing her clean finger.

The entire time she never broke eye contact with Willy. This left him in a state. His mouth hanging agape, his spoon had long ago fallen out of his hand and clattered to the table. And his pants were beginning to feel quite tight now, but it certainly wasn't from all the food he'd been eating.

"Willy?"

"Oh! Oh! Umm, oh, yes, Charlie?"

"You all right?"

"Peachy keen!"

He shot a small glare at Lauren and then brought his attention back to his food fully.

Charlie had been content with Willy's answer and had turned back to talking animatedly with his parents. Lauren noticed this.

Making sure that she seemed very into her eating as well, Lauren slowly lifted her foot out of her shoe. She then began to reach it up and across the table. It found the target.

Willy's eyes burst wide open and he coughed on his food.

"Willy? You sure you're ok?"

"Mmhmm!" he grunted out at Mrs. Bucket.

Lauren grinned to herself. This was fun.

Lauren's foot was placed directly on Willy's crotch. And now she was moving it in a slightly circular pattern.

Willy gripped onto the edge of the table hard, his knuckles white beneath his gloves. He closed his eyes tight and tried his best to stifle a moan.

_Naughty, naughty giiiiiiiirl!_

Willy burst into a horrendous fit of coughing, trying to hide his pleasure. So quickly she had brought him so close with the simplest actions.

And then she stopped.

Lauren withdrew her foot, aware of the state he was in, and placed it back in her shoe. The entire time she acted as if nothing were happening.

But something was happening. Willy felt pain from being so constricted by his pants and by his need to burst now. This was not the time nor place and he had nowhere to go.

_Drat._

"Willy, are you-"

"Mr. Bucket I actually think I need a bit of rest. It's been a long day. I'll see you all tomorrow. Goodbye!" Willy interrupted in one quick breath.

He then took his hat off his head and tried to look somewhat nonchalant about its new location as he ran out the door.

As soon as the door slammed Lauren burst out laughing. Everyone looked to her, confused.

"I… was just… thinking of something funny…" she let out quietly.

Lauren then quickly finished her meal and excused herself, saying it was also due to being tired.

* * *

Lauren made her way down to her hallway and got to Willy's door. She knocked.

"Go away," was the muffled reply.

"And why's that?"

"Go."

"Come on, Willy. You can't leave me hangin' here."

"You embarrassed me."

"No. I'd say you did that to yourself. You picked up your own reactions."

"But you caught me off guard."

"Which you also did to me."

"That's not the same."

"Isn't it?"

"Still go away."

Lauren frowned and banged her fist against the door as she leaned closer to it.

"Why?!"

"You don't wanna know."

"Yes I do. Otherwise I wouldn't ask."

"It's disgusting."

"Are you…?" Lauren let the words hang as she started to put two and two together.

"You left me that way! I had to!"

Lauren burst out laughing. No wonder he sounded so breathy! He was taking care of _things_ himself.

"I understand if this bothers you."

"No, no, no. I understand. I'll just go get the serum and come back. You… finish up… and then we can spend some time together."

"Uh-huh."

Sniggering, Lauren made her way off.


	20. I Wanna Get To Know You

When Lauren returned, she knocked on Willy's door. She was greeted promptly by Willy.

"All well in the nether regions?" Lauren asked.

Blushing, Willy replied, "I'm fine now, thank you very much. Although it was no thanks to you."

"Payback's a bitch," she casually replied, making her way inside.

Finger hanging midair and mouth agape, he stopped himself before correcting her language.

_Not tonight._

Lauren sat herself down on the bed and then held out one hand. It had the serum in it and she shook it a bit.

"So what do we do? Is it applied at all like the… other?" she asked with a sly grin.

"Ahem. Uh, no. Actually we just take this," he pulled out an eyedropper, "and each take a droplet. It'll weaken, sexual attraction just enough to keep us from doing _things_ for the next few hours."

Willy then proceeded to take the serum from Lauren and fill the dropper. He took a drop himself, then, and offered it to Lauren, who did so as well.

Laying back on the bed, Lauren let out a long sigh.

"So what now?"

Willy walked over and sat down on the bed next to her, looking down at her with a faint smile.

Lauren sat back up.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"No. You're just so beautiful."

"Awww. And you're just so sweet."

She leaned forward and gave him a peck on the lips.

Willy smiled, but then quickly shook his head.

"Right, so, I was thinking that maybe we could play a game to get to know each other."

"What kind of game…?"

"What about the question game?"

"Ok. What do we do?"

"Pick a topic and then I'll ask you a question about it, and vice versa."

"Ok, fedoras."

"Huh?"

"That's my topic."

Not entirely sure what a fedora was, he asked, "Do you like how fedoras taste?"

"Umm… You don't taste them. You wear them. I have a thing for fedoras. I have several of those types of _hats_."

"Heh, yeah, I knew that. I was testing you. Ok, so, my topic is… licorice."

"Alright, so, why is the bacon made of licorice?"

"What else would it be made of?"

"Bacon…"

"You're really weird."

"Well you're just that much weirder."

"Hey!"

"What? You started it."

Lauren reached over and knocked Willy's hat off his head.

"What was that for?"

"For getting offended."

Frowning, Willy decided he needed to do something as well.

Lauren gasped.

"Gotcha!"

He had quickly reached out and grabbed her stomach, and was now tickling her like mad. This caused Lauren's shrieks of laughter to ring out as she tried to bat him away.

"Stop it! Stop it!" she yelled, tears streaming down her face.

"What do you say?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Calmly Willy retracted his hands and sat with his fingers laced together, looking in perfect order.

Once Lauren regained her composure, she glared over at him.

"Your turn!" she yelled, jumping on top of him and tickling him now.

Willy tried to hold it in, but his cries were loud as he pled with Lauren to stop.

Unable to pick her off, he did the only thing he could think of to stop her. Willy reached forward and grabbed Lauren's head, trapping her lips in a kiss.

Lauren's hands immediately ceased their workings as she moved her lips against Willy's. She reached around his neck as she laid atop him.

After a while, they broke apart, Lauren still laying on Willy with an arm wrapped around him.

"I love you," Willy smiled to Lauren.

"Uh huh," she smiled back to him, but then rolled over onto her back.

It was quiet for a long while, until Lauren broke the silence.

"It's getting late."

"Yeah."

"I should go back to my room."

"Yeah."

"Can I stay here?"

"Yeah."

The two turned and smiled at one another. They got out of bed, Lauren going to her room to get her pajamas and the like, Willy doing the same in his own.

She returned in a turquoise camisole and patriotic boxer shorts to see Willy in a black t-shirt and long striped pants in 2 shades of maroon.

Soon the two nuzzled back into the bed. Lauren cuddled around Willy, an arm placed over his chest and her head snuggled into his shoulder.

Willy gave Lauren's forehead a quick peck before saying, "I love you. Good night. Dream good dreams of those great ideas."

"Yeah, you do the same. Night."

Before long Willy noticed Lauren's even breathing, signifying she was asleep. He stared up at the ceiling, not quite able to sleep. He had thoughts keeping him busy.

_Why won't she say that she loves me?_


	21. A Game of Dress Up

Willy woke bright and early the next morning. He lingered for about an hour just watching Lauren sleep. Then he made his way out and got to work. The night was over. It was time to get busy.

* * *

Charlie, smiling to himself, made his way down the long hallway that reached Lauren's room. He thought he'd surprise her and then they could go off to work together.

So when he reached the door, he knocked.

He waited a while. No answer.

He knocked again.

Still no answer.

And this is when Lauren began to stir. She could hear knocking, but it wasn't on the door to the room she was in.

"Shiiiiiiiit!" she whisper-yelled as she leapt out of the bed. She was in Willy's room, and someone was trying to reach her!

Well now, she couldn't very well get herself dressed, but how long would this entail waiting?

"Lauren?" she heard Charlie call.

And then she heard him try to open the door. She had locked it. This actually made Charlie think Lauren was inside, because she was more prone to lock the door when inside.

_Damn._

Lauren shook her head, she knew he wouldn't leave anytime soon now. And she certainly couldn't break the news to him like _this_.

But then an idea struck her.

_He's about my height and our hair color is close…_

So she then snuck into the closet.

* * *

Twenty-some odd minutes later Lauren reemerged. Confidently, she made her way out of the room.

"Oh!" Charlie looked up, upon seeing Willy Wonka leave his room.

"Willy, have you seen Lauren?"

Lauren, her eyes covered by the hat's angle, now wearing a velvet coat and an entire ensemble of Willy's: shoes, pants, and shirt, coughed a bit. It was a good thing the shirt was just a bit baggy. She thought she had enough to get away with this.

Putting on her best imitation of Willy, she replied, "I heard that she went out for a walk at the park. Why don't you go on ahead and get to work and we'll worry about her later, kay?"

"Umm, alright. Willy, are you feeling well? Your voice sounds… different."

"Everything's just dandy, Charlie!"

"Ok, well, will you go down to the Serum Room with me? There are some ideas I'd like to discuss with you."

_Shit, shit, shit!_ Lauren thought, panicked.

"Oh of course my dear boy!" she replied.

_Now why would I say that?_

So Charlie led the way, on down and "Willy" followed.

"Willy, you really need to get a haircut. I've never seen you let your hair get so long."

"Oh, right, well been busy with the factory! I'll get right on that."

It was quiet then for a while until Charlie spoke up again.

"What do you think of Lauren?"

"Oh, um, well, she's just dandy!"

"She's more than dandy. I love her Charlie. I can't live without her."

Lauren froze, but quickly returned to her pace so Charlie wouldn't notice.

"Charlie, no, don't say that. She's fantastic, but not worth saying anything about your life."

"But it's true!"

"Charlie," Lauren stopped and grabbed Charlie by the shoulders, "Listen to me. You cannot do anything, _anything_ that will harm yourself or others for any reason at all. Kay?"

Charlie nodded slowly, startled by the intensity Willy had just had. He hadn't been able to see his eyes, but if he had, he was sure fire would have been in them. This was something he clearly felt passionate about. Wha-_hey._

"Willy?"

"Yes?" Lauren replied, continuing their walking again.

"Do _you_ love her?"

Lauren closed her eyes briefly to think and then- "I love her for helping this factory. I love her the way I love you."

Charlie smiled. "Thanks Willy."

"No, thank you Charlie. Now listen, I think it'd be for the best if work and all this relationship business with Lauren were kept separate, kay?"

"Alright Willy."

At this point, Lauren was slightly ahead of Charlie. And she could see the Serum Room. She could see _Willy_ in the Serum Room!

_Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit! What am I gonna do?!_

"What's that?!" Lauren then exclaimed, pointing behind them. Charlie turned to look, and she shoved him, sending him sprawling forward to the floor.

"Oh no! Charlie, it got you! Stay still while I get help!"

And then Lauren sprinted into the Serum Room. She needed to fill him in so she could get outta there.

Willy, working with putting the final touches on his latest concoction, heard the peculiar sound of three steps. People went two, and he himself had three because of his cane. He turned slowly to see- _himself_?!

"What're you-"

Lauren cut him off by placing her hand over his mouth.

"Willy, it's me," she said quickly in a hushed tone, "Charlie came looking for me but I was in your room so I had to do this. I told him I was at the park and he wanted to come talk about some ideas with you, so I said ok. While we walked we talked about me. So yeah, basically no one can love me. I'll fill you in tonight. First, you need to hide me, and then go help Charlie on the floor. I pushed him and told him it got him."

Willy's eyes widened, worried about "it."

"It's nothing," Lauren quickly shook her head, "I made it up to distract him. Now _help!_"

With the end of her distressed whispers, Lauren removed her hand. Willy quickly took it and led her over to the other side of the room where there was a door. He opened it up and let Lauren in. The door then slammed behind her.

All was dark, but the sounds proved that Lauren was in fact _not_ alone.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I've been super swamped lately. Work and drama in my life have been time consuming. But I'll have you know, there's no way I could ever ditch this story! But of course, I have to keep you thinking during my unfortunately long waits. I'll update as soon as I get the chance!**


	22. Rest and Vexation

Willy turned on his heel and quickly made it back over to Charlie. He tapped the boy cautiously on the shoulder, which led to a loud yell on Charlie's part. He spun quickly around, but was relieved to find it was only Willy.

"What was _it_?"

"Turns out it was just…um… flying monkeys of Oz. The Oompa Loompa rescue team got them, though, so all is well. Now, what was it you wanted?"

"You sure it's all ok?" Charlie asked, now entering the Serum Room.

"Just dandy," Willy smiled, eyeing the door he had thrown Lauren into while Charlie then began to go into details on his ideas.

A sharp intake of breath.

A chill in the air.

A… laugh?

Lauren stood stock still, listening and looking, though unable to see a thing. Gingerly, she placed one foot forward. She tested the ground, and it was just as even and secure as the ground her other foot was on. So she let her weight fully rest on this foot as she brought the other one round and-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" she screamed, tumbling down, down, down a never ending hole.

SWOOSH!

Lauren had stopped screaming, but her eyes were tightly shut. What was she in though? A… net?

Carefully opening her eyes, she looked around once again. There was light now, and she was, in fact, in a net. Which was moving.

_Moving?!_

Lauren sat up and looked beneath her. There were a dozen Oompa Loompas carrying her. Little did she know they'd been with her the whole time she'd been in the room, leading her from one stage to the next. They were carrying her the alternative route back to her own room.

Now, Lauren didn't know exactly what was going on, but decided she had no reason not to trust the Oompa Loompas. So she relaxed in the net and waited as they carried her.

Some odd minutes later they reached a door. One Oompa Loompa stepped forth and knocked the upper left hand corner. And then the right hand. And then the center. And then the center of the left edge. Then the center of the bottom. And then using both hands, he began knocking so rapidly all around that Lauren could no longer keep track.

And then the door opened.

Intrigued by this display, she then found herself being lowered from the net and led towards the door.

"Oh, no, no, no. I won't fit through there. There must be another way."

The Oompa Loompas shook their heads and pressed on, trying to get Lauren to enter the 2 foot tall doorway.

She sighed, and got down on her knees, crawling forward when- BAM! She was in her bed. She hadn't even gotten more than her head through the doorway before she found herself here. Grinning, Lauren relaxed and closed her eyes. After today, she needed a nap. She could catch up with the boys at dinner.

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

"I'm up, I'm up!" Lauren yelled, smacking around at anything she could reach, trying to be rid of the dreaded noise.

Once it stopped- after Lauren hit a…_pillow_, she frowned to herself.

_I didn't set an alarm…_

She shrugged, noting the time, and deciding she should get ready for dinner. Lauren of course couldn't go in her current ensemble, since she was still dressed as Willy. So she grabbed some clothes and made her way into the bathroom.

Shedding the pants first, Lauren then looked at herself in the mirror.

"Isn't this what every man dreams of seeing?" she asked herself aloud, "A woman in his shirt and boxers?"

Yes, Lauren wasn't able to resist. To get into Willy mode, she had even put on his boxers. It was for Charlie's sake, really.

She smirked and rid herself of the shirt as well. Of course, when she was pulling on her jeans next, Lauren still had the boxers on. Like noted before, she couldn't resist.

So, once she had a purple camisole and patterned sweatshirt on, Lauren looked more closely in the mirror so she could tend to her makeup. A bit of eyeliner here, a bit of eye shadow there, foundation, lip gloss… and all was good. But- Lauren gasped.

Her hair!

It was a wreck. She'd only worn Willy's hat for a couple hours earlier, but her hair was the type that didn't take to hats too well. There was no way she could get her hair to behave now, so Lauren turned and went to her suitcase. When all else fails- go to the beanie!

So, grey beanie with black stripes plastered on her head, Lauren then made her way out of her room and down to dinner. For all that time it took her to get ready- she really looked like she'd simply thrown it all on in 5 minutes. Full blown teenage attire was dawned.

Willy and Charlie stepped into the Buckets', quite pleased with the day's work. They sat in their respective seats, just when Lauren walked through the door.

Charlie saw her first and found her look a bit more… relaxed than usual. He'd seen her in merely a t-shirt and jeans before, but there always seemed to be a professional air to her look. This had nothing respectable about it.

"Lauren, what are you wearing?"

Lauren looked down at herself and then up at Charlie.

"Clothes, last I checked."

"Yes but, why _those_?"

Lauren furrowed her eyebrows together. Here, there had never been an issue with the way she dressed. It wasn't like they had to wear business clothes at all times- or ever, for that matter.

"What's wrong with my clothes…?"

"Nothing, they just don't seem very you."

"I dress how I like and I like how I dress. I have no set style. I'm surprised that you're surprised."

Charlie was surprised at himself too. He didn't know why Lauren's clothes mattered to him so much just then. She'd always been so wonderful to him, so why did the clothes matter? Was it just a difference of Americans and the British? It couldn't be; it was just… different.

So Charlie just sat back in his seat. And that's when Willy's attention was drawn away from his thoughts. He looked up at Lauren and smiled.

Lauren smiled back and sat in her seat.

Willy thought Lauren looked stunning, as she always did, but she did look a bit… younger. Then again, she was young. It didn't matter though. Willy had his quirks and she had hers.

"All right! Now that we're all here, let's to the meal!" Mrs. Bucket happily said as she finally took her seat.

When dinner was over, Charlie made his way off to his room awfully quickly. Lauren was puzzled by this, but thought nothing of it. She and Willy then began to make their way off to their rooms.

"Why do you think Charlie had such problems with the way I'm dressed?"

"I don't know. You look a little different, but you look different everyday."

"And you look the same everyday," Lauren grinned.

"Yes and- hey!" Willy didn't immediately realize that Lauren had said this in a teasing manner. Now he just couldn't have that.

"I call 'em as I see 'em. So what're you gonna do about it?"

"I'm gonna take you back into your room and have some fun with you," Willy grinned wickedly.

"Oh is that right?" Lauren asked, one eyebrow raised as she opened her door.

Willy then pulled Lauren into her room and closed the door behind them. He pressed her back to the door and immediately placed his mouth over hers.

Smiling into the kiss, Lauren wrapped her arms around Willy. She started with them at his neck, but they were soon at his waist, while his own hands were holding her face.

They were sliding down the door then, and that's when Lauren broke the kiss.

"What's wrong?"

"My beanie."

"What?"

"It fell off," Lauren explained, pointing to her hat, now on the floor.

Willy then bent over and picked it up. Although instead of handing it back to her, he simply placed it atop his own head (as his hat had also fallen off during the kiss).

"Hey!" Lauren stuck out her bottom lip as she protested.

Willy leaned forward and took her bottom lip between his own, and began nibbling and sucking on it.

At this, Lauren couldn't help but let out a loud moan.

Willy grabbed Lauren by her lower back as she wrapped her legs around him. He backed up and led them over to the bed. He set Lauren down on the bed and broke away.

"Now give me my hat."

"I don't know… Don't you still have things of mine?"

"Like what?"

"Like those clothes you had on of mine today."

"Well, if I give them back to you, will you give me my beanie?"

Willy nodded, and Lauren got up and went back to the bathroom. She shut the door behind her.

Willy sat down on the bed, looking expectantly at the door, waiting for Lauren to give him his things.

And then all was black.

She'd thrown them at him! The clothes had landed right on his face. So as he pulled them down from his face, he looked and saw Lauren in the bathroom door frame. And that wasn't all he saw Lauren in. She was in his, gulp, boxers.

"L-Lauren?"

"Yeeeeees?"

"W-why are you wearing my boxers?"

"Because they're yours."

And Willy couldn't speak. He just watched as Lauren, in _his_ boxers and her purple bra, made her way forward and plucked her hat from his head, and put it back on her own.

"My. Beanie." She said, her face mere inches from his own.

And that's when he grabbed her face and pulled her down on top of him. His mouth was ravaging hers as he laid flat on her bed and she straddled him. Lauren ground against him slightly, but then frowned. She was receiving no reaction where she wanted.

_The serum!_ Lauren's eyebrows shot straight up at the realization. He had remembered his, but she had forgotten her own. Fantastic.

Now, Lauren was in a state where she was not too eager to break away from Willy. He wouldn't want to either, but at least he could.

And that's when Lauren started getting a bit too aggressive.

She ground hard against him as she forced her tongue into his mouth. Her teeth were grinding against his some, and before long, she broke the kiss. Lauren was quickly ridding Willy of his shirt and kissing down his chest. And down his stomach. And…

"Oh no!" Willy let out, pulling Lauren back up.

Laying on the bed just looking at each other, Lauren smiled sheepishly.

"You forgot your serum today, didn't you?"

She nodded.

"Then I think we may want to go ahead and get to sleep."

"Ok," she whispered.

Willy then stood up, going to get some pajamas.

"Wait."

Willy turned and looked to Lauren.

"It's warm tonight," she began drawing patterns in the sheets with her finger as she spoke, "so really, you don't need pajamas."

"What are you-"

"Your boxers are enough for me. Are they for you?"

"Oh," Willy let out, somewhat surprised, but not displeased. So he came back over and sat on the edge of the bed. He still had all his clothes on, but his shirt was unbuttoned.

So Lauren got up in front of him and slowly edged his jacket and then his shirt over his shoulders and down his arms. She then stepped in front of him and unbuttoned his pants, pulling those down his legs as well.

So he was sitting there in his boxers. And she was standing in front of him in his boxers and a bra. And her beanie.

"You want to take your hat off before we go to bed?"

Lauren shook her head.

Willy smirked, and began to scoot back on the bed, getting himself situated beneath the covers. Lauren walked around and got into the bed as well. She scooted over next to him, her back against his chest. He wrapped an arm around her.

"Goodnight Willy."

"Goodnight Lauren. I love you."

Lauren smiled, and closed her eyes, trying to settle down.

Ten minutes later Lauren could hear the even breathing of Willy which let her know that he was asleep. Of course, she still could not sleep. The state she was in of sexual need hadn't really died down, especially not with his bare chest against her. It was maddening!

So, slowly so as not to wake Willy, she began to edge her hand into the boxers she was wearing. If he couldn't take care of her right now, she would have to.

A few minutes later, when Lauren's ministrations became more needy and her breathing much heavier, Willy slowly opened his eyes. The bed was moving a bit, and he was wondering why. And then his eyes widened even more.

_Dirty girl!_

Of course, this thought wasn't necessarily a bad one. She was ok with him doing the same thing just the night before. The problem was, he no longer found the thought of her doing this disgusting but… erotic.

And soon she eased down the speed at which her hand worked, and with a content grin, pulled her hand away. The entire time her eyes had been shut, and she was too caught up in things to realize that Willy had watched her for the last few moments. Nor did she notice that she apparently had overcome the serum. Because Willy was certainly feeling things he shouldn't.

_Dirty, dirty girl…_

He smiled to himself, as he nuzzled his face against her neck and was able to fight against his needs enough (thanks to the slight workings of the serum that were still held) to fall asleep.

What would they do tomorrow about all of this…?

**A/N: I have to say, I was waiting for at least **_**one**_** review for the last chapter. So, if I don't get any reviews, although I'll continue writing my story, I won't post it. I don't care if I only have one reader reviewing. I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time with adding this on this site.**


	23. This Is It

"Uuuuuugggggggggghhhhhhh!!!" Lauren moaned as she rolled over, reaching out to smack at the invisible noise. Unable to find it, she opened one eye, but immediately shut it to hide it from the horror that was the light of day.

So she buried her face into her pillow and just hoped the noise would go away. But it didn't.

"Make it stoooooooop!!!"

And it did.

Lauren smiled, face down, into her pillow. But then the pillow was gone. It had been snatched away!

"Come on, it's time to get up."

"I don't wanna."

"Don't you want to work?"

"Yeah, but I don't wanna get up."

"Well that's just silly. You can't have both. It just doesn't work."

Lauren rolled over and opened her eyes, to see Willy standing at the foot of her bed, wearing her beanie.

"HEY!" she yelled, immediately leaping up and charging at him.

"It fell off while you were sleeping," Willy defended as he ran to the bathroom and slammed it shut.

"I don't care! Gimme my beanie!" she yelled, banging on the bathroom door.

Willy smiled to himself inside. She was so like him- caring so much for just a hat. HIS HAT!

Quickly Willy swung the door back open, only to see Lauren wearing his hat.

"Lauren, give me my hat."

"I don't think so."

"And why not?"

"You have my beanie."

"And you have my hat."

"It's pretty comfy though."

"I know that. That's why I wear it."

"That's why I wear my beanie."

"Trade?"

"I don't know…"

"Lauren, please!"

"I think I have an idea on how we can do a fair exchange," she said, slowly walking up to him.

"And how would that be?"

Without a word, Lauren was now standing before Willy, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned in and placed her lips atop his, to which he opened his eyes wide. As she worked the gentle kiss, she worked her fingers up the back of his neck and eased her beanie off of his head. Catching on, Willy did the same to her. And then Lauren broke the kiss and placed the beanie atop her head.

"You were right. That was fair," Willy grinned.

"Alright, well I'm going to take a shower before work."

Willy nodded as Lauren made her way past him and into the bathroom.

_We've been bonding a lot_, she thought to herself as she undressed, _but how much is just physical? The games and stuff we play seem like our good mental barrier breakers. I feel like I really know him. And really trust him…_

She turned the water on to adjust itself to the heat. And then, having only left the door cracked, she took a peak out to see Willy still in her room, pacing.

"Something on your mind?"

Willy looked up, surprised, to see Lauren's head sticking out of the bathroom.

"I thought you were taking a shower."

"I was just about to, but…"

"But?"

"I was wondering if…"

"If?"

"If you needed one too…?"

"Well of course I need one, and I was just going to go back to my room to get to that and-"

"That's not what I mean."

"But you just asked me if-"

"I'm ready."

Willy coughed, startled, "Wha-what?"

"I'm ready."

"Are you- are you sure?"

Lauren wordlessly opened the door up, exposing her nude form to Willy. His eyes snapped shut.

"Willy- I'm sure."

Willy peaked one eye open, gazing over her. Everything was so much more incredible than ever before. He was stunned. And he needed no further prodding. She was sure, and her tone of voice verified that as well.

Lauren let a soft grin spread over her lips as she turned and went ahead and stepped into the shower. Willy made his way into the bathroom. He was nervous, but for her and not him. This was her first time. He was her first. And he whipped off his boxers and stepped into the shower as well then.

Lauren was already washing her hair, eyes closed as he made his way behind her. He took her hands out of her hair and replaced them with his own. And the feeling of his fingers massaging her scalp actually had Lauren let out a small moan.

When finished, Willy helped Lauren move back under the water to rinse out her hair. And then she opened her eyes. She smiled as she admired his form. It was impressive. And the particularly impressive part is what scared her a bit, but it was nervous excitement.

Willy frowned then, as Lauren squeezed more shampoo into her hand.

"You just-"

"Your turn."

She turned him around and began working at his hair, massaging particularly slowly. He didn't moan as she had, but if he wasn't hard before, he certainly was now.

When finished, Lauren helped Willy rinse out his hair as well.

And then they were facing each other. Just looking into one another's faces. This was it.


	24. Confrontation

Willy took a step forward and gently cupped Lauren's cheek, pulling her face towards his own. And then their lips touched. They began the slow, light caressing of pure love. With that, Willy gently began to run his other hand over Lauren's back and slowly began to make its way around to her stomach. He began to move it up, inching slowly towards her breast.

"Lauren?"

The kiss was broken.

Silently, Lauren mouthed, "Did you?"

Willy shook his head.

And that's when they both heard the door open.

_Charlie!_

"Lauren?"

Panic stricken, Willy tried to make his way out of the shower, but Lauren pulled him back. She placed a finger over his lips as she tried to maintain an even tone while answering Charlie's call.

"Yes?"

"Where are you?"

"In the shower."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's all right. What is it?"

"I was wondering if you knew where Willy was, because I wanted to talk to both of you about some ideas. You were both late and…"

"I slept in. Sorry. I don't know where Willy is, though. Why don't you go check with your parents while I finish my shower and then I'll help you. Ok?"

"All right. See you in a bit."

And then they heard the door shut.

Sighing in relief, Lauren stepped back as she let go of Willy.

"That was close."

"Too close."

"Let's just hurry up and get out of here."

Willy nodded at Lauren's words.

They both went to opposite ends of the shower (it was large enough for half a dozen people), scrubbing themselves silently not looking at one another.

Lauren stepped out first, toweling off and then stepping into her room. She dressed and did her hair quickly, then leaving her room.

Willy was drying off in the bathroom and taking care of his hair before heading over to his room to get his own clothes. He heard the door shut and knew that she was gone. He'd wait another moment before going over.

But then he heard another door.

Slowly Willy turned, and standing before him was a very pale looking Charlie Bucket.

Trembling all over, Charlie just shook his head as he backed out of the bathroom.

"Charlie! Charlie wait! Let me talk to you about this."

He lightly grasped the boy's arm, but fury was immediately instilled in Charlie's very core. He ripped Willy's arm away from himself.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"Charlie? Please, it's not what you-"

"YOU'RE A SICK BASTARD! YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF HER!"

And this got to Willy.

"NO! I DID NO SUCH THING!"

"I LOVE HER!" they both shouted in unison.

And then they were both simply staring one another down.

"2 o'clock," Willy suddenly stated.

"What?"

"We'll meet in my office to discuss these matters more calmly at 2 o'clock."

And with that Charlie turned on his heel and left the room.

Willy stood there, in nothing but a towel, watching the boy flee out the open door. Willy then gathered his few things and went across the hall to his own room. He sat down on his bed and covered his face.

"_I'm ruined_," he muttered into his hands, thinking of his factory _and_ his love. All seemed to be lost.


	25. Wandering Hearts and Minds

Lauren made her way down to the whip cream room. She got to work on a new candy with a cream filling, so she first oversaw some of the actual whipping process, for only the absolute best could be used for a prototype. Even better was used for the masses.

And as she worked, her mind fluttered all over the place. Her body was working, but her head certainly was not.

_We almost did it, _she thought, _we almost had sex. And without protection. I… feel ready, but I still have to be careful. Especially with Charlie. I need to talk to him before we actually do any-_

"Aaah!!" Lauren screamed.

She had been gathering some whipped cream in the coolinator case to keep it perfect, but she got too close. The whip struck her across the face and sent her sprawling to the other end of the room.

Immediately she found herself surrounded by Oompa Loompas. They were worried, of course, and immediately began to tend to the gash on her face.

"I'm ok, I'm ok," she pleaded with them, trying to calm them down.

They soon eased away, and she stood with her wound nicely cleaned. Lauren thanked her coworkers and then excused herself.

_I need to talk to Charlie before my mind wandering allows any other accidents._

* * *

Once Willy had dressed himself and regained his composure, he made his way out of the room. He wouldn't tell Lauren until that evening of his encounter with Charlie. There was no reason to needlessly worry her. He would handle it. Everything would explain and all would be happy.

So as he made his way through the hallways, expecting to get some work done before his conversation with Charlie, he heard a scream. _Lauren's_ scream.

Immediately Willy began to charge down the hallway, in his stiff speed walking manner.

"Lauren? Lauren?" he called, as he saw a figure leave the whipping room.

And then the figure turned.

"_You!_"

* * *

"Willy's a monster!"

"Wha'? Wha's happened?"

Charlie ran into his mother's arms, hugging her tight.

"She's _mine_," he muttered into her chest.

"What was that, Charlie?"

"Nothing I- I just needed a hug was all," he said, pulling back with a put on smile. He wouldn't expose everything to her. He needed to talk to Lauren first. He needed to make her see the error of her ways. He needed her to see the evil in Willy that had recently become evident to him.

"Aaah!!"

Charlie turned quickly, recognizing the source of the noise.

"Gotta go, mum," he let out quickly, giving her a peck on the cheek and then running out of the house to the body of the factory.

* * *

Mrs. Bucket was utterly confused by her son's behavior. There was something amiss here. But what?

She made her way out of the factory to meet her husband down at the restaurant.

"Darling?" she called out.

Mr. Bucket's head popped up from behind a counter.

"Yes?"

"Darling have you… have you noticed anything strange about Charlie lately?"

Mr. Bucket frowned a moment, furrowing his brows together in thought. Afterwards, he shook his head and said simply, "No, not that I recall."

"Alright. Well… any calls today?"

"Oh, right, uhm… there was just one. Victoria something or other, but she seemed to have the wrong number. Not by much, curiously enough. She was calling for Willy so I gave her the number and address of the factory."

"Who was she?"

"An old friend of sorts."

"Hmm… well, let's get ready for opening today," Mrs. Bucket sighed, not satisfied by the day's beginning.

* * *

"Lauren? Lauren?"

Lauren turned to see Charlie, who immediately stopped dead in his tracks with a gasp.

"Oh Charlie, I was just looking for you."

As she neared him, he immediately grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.

"Did he do this to you?" he mumbled into her shoulder.

"Did who do what?" Lauren asked, breaking free of the uncomfortable hug and looking Charlie in the eye.

"Your gash. Did Willy get angry with you and do that?"

"_What the hell?!_" Lauren blurted out, shocked at the suggestion, "_He would do no such thing!_"

"Oh Lauren, you poor, poor thing," he cooed, trying to pull her into another hug.

"Let the fuck go of me! I don't like hugs, ok? So _don't_ touch me. Now why the hell am I such a poor thing? Huh?!"

"Lauren, Willy's taking advantage of you."

"Like hell he is! He gives me a summer internship that will help _me_ get into any college I want? Yeah, he's a real bastard."

"Oh but he is!" Charlie exclaimed, missing Lauren's sarcasm.

"Why would you think that? He's helped your entire family."

"But he tried to _rape_ you!"

"_WHAT?!_"

"This morning! He snuck into your shower!"

_Shit, shit, shit. Fucking shit._

"Charlie, no. I- I invited him in."

Charlie's jaw dropped. He was speechless. How could _she_? His Lauren? His sweet, innocent Lauren?

"Charlie, I- I didn't want it to be like this. I was afraid to tell you I didn't love you that way after your suicidal spell. But I love you like a brother. You're fantastic. It's just… Willy's the one that I _want_."

"But Lauren I-"

"I know, and for your sake, I wish I could make myself love you, but that would only hurt us both. I was not made for you."

"O-ok… I-I've g-gotta go. Meet Willy."

And with that Charlie turned on his heel and took a normal paced, but incredibly stiff, walk away.

"I'm sorry, Charlie!"

* * *

Willy's eyes bugged out of his head.

"V-_Victoria?_"

"Willy Wonka! It's been so long!" the girl cried out, charging open armed over to Willy and then wrapping him into a tight hug.

Arms stiff by his sides, Willy answered, "Nearly 20 years."

"So how've you been?" she giddily asked, pulling back to look over the man.

"Why do you care?"

"Why wouldn't I care?"

"You left me. At the alter."

"Well yes… there was that, but I'm over that now."

"Heheh, funny, 'cause I'm not."

"I have an idea of how I can make it up to you," she whispered in his ear, sliding her finger down his arm.

Willy took a quick sidestep away from her, sweat already beading along the top of his forehead under his hat.

"No. That's ok. Now that we've seen each other, you can go," he said with a tight, forced smile.

"But Willy," she pleaded, "I came back for _you_."

"Why?"

"Because I love you. I've always loved you. I was a fool to ever leave you!"

"Uhm… yeah. You were. Your loss."

"I know! And now I want to win you back!"

"Why?"

"I just said, silly! Because I love you!"

"Besides that. What's happened over the years?"

Victoria began to walk, with Willy matching her stride, looking daggers into her eyes though.

"I… I got married. It didn't work. And now I'm here!" she immediately returned to her perky attitude.

"Is that right?"

"Yeah… So, how've the years treated you?" she asked, wrapping her arm around his.

Pulling his arm out from hers, Willy replied, "I have an heir and an intern."

"An _heir_? So, you're… you're married?"

"Well, no…"

_I can't tell her about me and Lauren. Lauren's a minor and Victoria would walk all over that. I just need to… get around this and get her out of here. This couldn't have been a worse time for Victoria to come back._

"So any plans tonight…?"

"Yes. Work then sleep."

"What about in between…?"

"Dinner."

"Any room for _dessert_?"

Willy gulped.

"Nuh-uh."

"You sure? You look like it's been years since you've gotten any. _And I still coach gymnastics_."

Quickly clearing his throat and quickening his pace so he was ahead of Victoria, he called loudly so she could hear from behind him, "I hate you. Now leave."

"You don't hate me. You're just shocked. I'll give you some time to think about things, and then I'll come back _later,_" Victoria said, stepping on beyond Willy after he stopped in his tracks.

_**Not**__ a good time for her to be here._


	26. The Discussion

"1:57:59

1:58:00

1:58:01

1:58:02

1:58:03"

"Willy?"

"You're early."

"Well, I could hear you counting the time from down the hallway. I just… wanted to get this over with."

Willy turned in the chair at his desk to face Charlie. He gestured for Charlie to sit in a chair across from him. And then, without a blink of an eye, Willy grabbed the edge of his desk and hurled the whole thing aside.

"It was in the way," he simply stated.

Charlie sat down across from his mentor and looked down, twiddling with his thumbs.

"Charlie?"

"Yes, Willy?"

"Shouldn't I be the one doing that?"

Charlie looked up, confusion plastered over his visage.

"Well," Willy began to explain, "you're the one looking for answers from me. I should be the scared one."

"I talked to her."

"Y-you did?"

"Yeah," Charlie nodded slowly.

"And?" Willy asked, a little too eagerly.

"She doesn't love me. Not like that, anyway."

"I'm sorry," and Willy genuinely was, for he cared for his heir like his own son.

"I don't know if she loves you though."

"What do you mean?"

"She said she _wants_ you. You and love were never mentioned together."

"Oh," Willy snapped his mouth shut and looked down at his own now twiddling thumbs, which squeaked with his gloves.

"I- I think she's afraid."

"But-"

"I know she invited you this morning, but I don't think that's what scares her. I think the surrendering of the heart is what scares her."

Willy nodded, and looked down again. But then he looked up, worry in his violet eyes.

"Charlie?"

"Yes, Willy?"

"Are you… are you going to tell anyone?"

"About you two? Only if I have to."

"Thank you."

"But if you do _anything_ to hurt her, I _will_ go to the authorities."

"I understand. So Charlie, how are you dealing with this?"

"I'm… not well, but I'll deal."

"Ok…"

Willy was feeling increasingly awkward, because he was not one for emotions.

_Now that the legal fears are open, I really don't wanna do this. It's weird._

"Willy?"

"Yes, Charlie?"

"I kinda hate you right now."

"Umm… kay…"

"It'll be better later. I just had to tell you. It's hard for me to look at you the same now. And I'm going to go now."

Willy nodded his head once, keeping his calm fears silent and to himself. Charlie quietly excused himself and Willy continued to just sit there, staring at his own hands.

"That went incredibly well for the circumstances."

Willy looked up to see Lauren standing in the doorway.

"Lauren, what are you doing here?"

"Charlie mentioned your little get together, although I believe it was quite accidental."

"Oh."

"Don't you 'oh' me," Lauren mock-admonished as she stepped inside. Behind her she shut and locked the door, then grabbing Willy's desk and bringing it back over to its proper spot.

"And why can't I 'oh' you?" he asked, beginning to pick up on the same playful attitude as Lauren.

"Because I have boobs and that makes me ultimate ruler."

"Boobs, huh?"

"Yeah, these things right here," she said, then cupping each of her breasts in her own hands as she sat down on top of Willy's desk.

"Oh _those_ things. Yeah, I don't know. What happens if I 'oh' you again?"

"You don't get to see or touch my boobs. I may even get that special wrap to tape them down. Or even a mastectomy."

Willy gasped sharply, "_No!_"

Grinning, Lauren said, "Yes. So are you going to 'oh' me?"

"I think I'm going to have the letter 'o' completely removed from the alphabet now."

"But then you'd be Willy Wnka."

"It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

Willy then grabbed Lauren around the waist and pulled her down from his desk and into his lap. He pulled her down into a slow, gentle kiss.

"It's still daytime."

"Uh-huh."

"Daytime is for work."

Willy frowned at Lauren with that.

"Ok, so here's the thing. This morning was foolish. Besides getting caught, we forgot protection. We can't let that happen."

"Well how about this," Willy started, stroking Lauren's upper arms with his thumbs as he spoke, "You do whatever you want all day. You can work, you can go out, whatever."

"I like the sound of this so far."

"But you can't see me all day."

"Well now you've lost me."

"Because I'll be setting things up for tonight. I want it to be perfect for you."

"And I like the sound of this again."

Willy gave Lauren a quick peck on the lips then before making her scoot out of his lap.

"I'll see you at 8 o'clock."

"I'll be counting the minutes," Lauren grinned as she slowly backed out of the office.

Willy smiled back to her, but the second she was gone, panic crossed his face.

"Perfect? How am I going to make this _perfect_? Nothing will ever be perfect enough for her!"

He slumped back in his chair, but then hopped to his feet almost immediately.

"There are only 5 hours left! I mustn't dilly dally!"


	27. Day Out

When Lauren made her way down the hallway, she found Charlie around the corner.

"Hey Charlie. How are you?"

"Not in the mood to talk about how I feel."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Well, how about this, Willy gave me the day to do as I please. Why don't I take you out for something that'll lift your spirits?"

"Is that really the best idea?"

"With the plans in my mind, I think it is."

"Umm…" Charlie looked skeptically at Lauren.

"Oh come on," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him after her.

* * *

"Did you really have to blindfold me?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask why?"

"So you can't see where we're going. I thought that was a given."

"Oh, well, right…"

Lauren led Charlie through the streets of London, managing to find her way despite her lack of directional ability.

"Shit," or maybe she wasn't finding her way.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing, I- oh there it is!"

"There what is?!"

"Oh, umm, nothing, nothing…"

Lauren spotted a factory that had always stood out to her and helped her regain her bearings. She knew what she was doing now.

"Lauren, when can I take this off?"

"When I tell you to."

"When will that be?"

"Maybe never if you keep asking so many questions. Hot damn, just trust me, alright?"

Charlie giggled a bit at Lauren's words, and then nodded to her.

"And now we're here."

"So I can take this off?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Don't you 'oh' me."

"Why?"

"Because I have- uh, never mind."

Lauren led Charlie on through the secret location, until she found the person she was looking for. Silently, she gestured and mouthed words back and forth with the person to portray the message unbeknownst to Charlie.

Lauren let go of Charlie but the person then took Charlie's arm.

"Alright Charlie, we're almost done," Lauren said, trying to make him think it was still her holding him.

The person led Charlie off into a back section.

"_WOAH!_"

"Calm down Charlie!" Lauren spoke through the cracked door, "I'm not doing anything to hurt you!"

"But you're taking my clothes off!"

"This will all make sense in just a couple more minutes."

It was incredibly hard for Lauren to repress her own wild need to giggle like the criminally insane. Charlie was terrified and excited at the same time. This didn't make sense, but maybe she and Willy had been playing a trick on him…?

The person with Charlie then began to put clothes on him.

"Lauren…?"

"Shut up, Charlie," Lauren replied, bemused.

The person then stepped out a few minutes later and nodded to Lauren.

"Ok Charlie, you can take off the blindfold now."

Charlie whipped off the blindfold and looked into the mirror before him. He was wearing blue jeans; a black t-shirt that read "Shoot to Thrill" in white, bold letters; and a white suit jacket.

"Charlie, meet Stefan. He has fantastic taste in clothes and he was the one dressing you."

"Oh, Charlie, let me give you this last touch," Stefan leaned forward and put sunglasses on Charlie.

"Very nice," Lauren said, then stepping up and messing up Charlie's hair just a bit.

"You have good taste yourself, Lauren," Stefan smiled.

Charlie just continued to look at himself in the mirror.

"Wow."

Stefan and Lauren smiled to each other.

"And that's not the only treat for you today."

"I'm going to meet with you once a month to work on your wardrobe and plus you can come here whenever you need me," Stefan said.

"_And_ you and I are going to walk around the rest of the mall and I will be your wing-woman."

Charlie looked to the two then and smiled.

"Thank you both so much."

Charlie and Lauren then both left Stefan and went out into the main area of the mall.

"Ok Charlie, with your suave new looks, I think we need to go to the music store."

Lauren led Charlie down to the store and stuck him in a section of new releases. She went around to the classic rock and browsed through while she watched Charlie. Before long, another girl was beside him. Charlie side glanced at her and then stepped over a bit, to give her more room to browse.

_He likes her, _Lauren thought.

The petite blond girl stepped over a bit towards Charlie.

Lauren rose her eyebrows.

_And she likes him._

Charlie took several steps away then. The girl frowned a bit and went back to browsing.

_Alright, that fool needs me._

Lauren casually made her way over to the new releases and stepped beside the girl. She glanced over at Charlie and then back at the music.

"Ok, is it just me, or is that guy _hot_?" Lauren whispered.

The girl blushed and nodded.

Lauren looked over to Charlie and then back at the girl again.

"And it seems to me that he's interested."

"Good for you."

"Oh no, good for _you_. He keeps glancing at you."

The girl looked up and at Charlie, but quickly looked back.

"Are you sure?" she frantically whispered.

"Oh yeah. You know, if you want, I could try and talk him into coming over here."

"Oh would you?"

"Definitely," Lauren smiled, working her way down beside Charlie then.

"Hey bud, listen, she's into you. She said so. I told her I'd get you over to her so she can talk to you."

"Really?" Charlie whispered, surprised.

"Yeah, so here's what I was thinking," Lauren reached into her pocket, "you two go get slushies together," she handed him a gift card.

"My treat," she grinned.

"Ok, but… what do I _say_?"

"Hey, you're cute, wanna get a slushie with me?"

"That's really good."

Lauren smirked, "Yeah, it's real advanced seduction stuff."

Charlie nodded and took a few determined steps by the girl.

"Uhm, hi, I'm Charlie."

"Hi, I'm Stacy," she smiled up to him, quickly giving him her full attention.

"Y-you're, uhm, uh, you're cute."

Stacy blushed, "Thanks."

"You, uh, wanna get some slushies?"

"Yeah!"

Charlie turned and smiled wide to Lauren.

"Ok, well, let's go," he smiled.

And the two made their way out then. Quite proud of herself, Lauren made her way back to the classic rock section, where she snatched up a couple of cds. Once she paid for them, she made her way out and over to Victoria's Secret. She couldn't resist.

* * *

At about 7, after doing some shopping for clothes, movies, and music, Lauren went and sought out Charlie. She found him still with Stacy in the food court.

"Wow, they've been talking for over 3 hours," she muttered to herself.

Lauren made her way over to the two then.

"Hi, I'm Lauren," she introduced herself to Stacy.

"Oh hi! I'm Stacy! And thank you so much for everything!" she whispered the last bit.

"No problem. Charlie is actually a friend of mine and I was trying to help him out."

"Well aren't you sweet?"

Lauren shook her head a bit, happy that Stacy herself was sweet.

"Well Charlie, I'm sorry but we've got to get back to the factory."

"Can I see you again?" Charlie then asked Stacy.

"Of course," she smiled wide as she began to scratch her number out on a napkin and handed it to him.

"Thanks," he smiled wide.

Charlie walked backwards as Lauren pulled him on, because he didn't want to lose Stacy from his sightlines. Stacy giggled and waved, until eventually Lauren had Charlie outside.

"I take it you enjoyed yourself," Lauren teased as they began walking back to the factory.

"Oh Lauren, she's so great!"

"Just don't take it too fast, cowboy."

"I can't wait to see her again and- are you wearing new clothes?"

"You were with her for over 3 hours. I shopped. Got me about half a dozen new outfits, a dozen movies, 3 cds, and a little something else," she grinned, thinking of her 'little something else.'

"So do you want to get some dinner before we get to the factory?"

"I actually have plans for tonight…" Lauren mumbled, afraid of Charlie's reaction.

"Oh, ok, well be careful. I'll just stop by mum's restaurant."

Lauren blinked, surprised at how nonchalant Charlie was.

"You're ok with this?"

"Yep."

"Wow, well thanks."

The two chatted just a little about Lauren's movies and music until they reached the restaurant. Charlie said goodbye and thanked Lauren again before going in.

Then quite excited, Lauren couldn't wait until she got back to the factory. Looking at her watch, she saw it was 7:30. She needed to hurry. So she ran into a nearby drugstore, where she picked up a necessity for the night's plans, and then rushed on. Once she reached the factory, she opened the door to find a note directly in front of her.

"Follow the roses," it read.

And so that's just what Lauren started to do.


	28. Night of Perfection

Lauren had dropped off her bags with an Oompa Loompa that was by the door for her. She then went on to find that the trail of roses led on into the Fragrance Room. It led her to a table with an unlabeled bottle on it. There was also a note on the table that read "Sniff."

Smirking at it, Lauren paused a moment before taking a whiff. When she did so, she actually let out a small groan of pleasure. It was a vanilla scent, which was her favorite, and also stronger than any other vanilla she'd ever smelled.

Lauren dropped back into a chair by the table smelling the fragrance, unaware of when the chair began to move on its own. And it continued on down an invisible conveyor belt leading Lauren on to another room.

After blinking a few times, Lauren suddenly realized that she was in…

_An Italian villa?_

She got up looked around. There were classic cobblestone structures around her and a lovely antique looking patio set in front of her. She went ahead and sat down, simply enjoying it all, but she was plagued by a single thought.

_Where's Willy?_

An Oompa Loompa came to her side then, dressed as a chef with the phony Italian mustache. Classic. Lauren shook her head, bemused, as she took the drink the Oompa Loompa offered her. After taking a sip, her face lit up. It was sweet tea, her favorite drink. She then continued to finish off the glass and soon after received a refill.

And then there was a rustling. Lauren glanced about, trying to discover the source. A beaming expression overtook her countenance as she saw the source emerge from the bushes.

Willy Wonka in suit and tie, without a hat.

"You certainly went all out," Lauren couldn't help but tease.

As he seated himself across from her, Willy replied, "I said I wanted it to be perfect for you. I couldn't do that, but was I at least close?"

"You went beyond perfect."

"Really?" Willy asked, childish hope glimmering in his eyes.

"Really," Lauren confirmed.

The mustached Oompa Loompa returned then, two plates of food in hand, which he placed before the couple.

"Glazed chicken, angel hair pasta and broccoli on the side."

"And that's a honey balsamic glaze."

"Wow. How…" Lauren grinned as she shook her head in wonderment, "how'd you know about all of this stuff?"

"What stuff?"

"My favorite scent, my favorite meal, my favorite drink, my favorite freaking _culture_. Come on, what's your secret?"

"Umm, well, heheh, I actually was able to use a trace of your saliva from inside my mouth to trace back to your taste bud senses."

"That's incredible! You have to tell me more about the functions later."

"Ok. Yeah, and the villa was just a lucky guess."

"I'm beyond amazed," Lauren replied, beginning to dig into her food.

"I'm glad," Willy smiled shyly as he began to dine on his own course.

A few minutes later, Lauren's ears perked up. There was music playing. It was the soft, sweet, archetypal music of an Italian villa. But then it changed. The blend was slow and smooth. A voice was added to the mix.

Lauren dropped her fork.

"No," she whispered, her eyes nearly popping out of her head.

Willy nodded.

Lauren leaped up out of her seat and spun around. Tom Petty was there, singing "Listen to Her Heart." That's when Lauren actually let out a squeal.

She spun around and yelled to Willy, "You got me Tom freaking Petty! You're a god!"

She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck as she gave him a quick kiss, even lifting her left foot. Lauren let go then and ran over by Tom Petty, eagerly looking up to him as she listened.

Willy just stood aside, watching with a faint grin on his face as he watched Lauren's giddiness escalate. She then looked to Willy and motioned with her arm for him to come over to her.

Hesitating at first, he soon came over beside her. Lauren intertwined her arm with his as she bounced on her heels to the music. Eventually, Willy began to let the rhythm reach the soles of his feet and he bounced a bit alongside her.

They continued like that for about an hour, with Petty ending with "American Girl." Lauren thanked him gratuitously for his presence, and Willy muttered a few words of thanks as well. This then left the two alone in the room/villa.

"Have you enjoyed yourself this evening?" Willy asked, seeming quite formal.

"How could I not? You've done everything right."

Lauren stepped over to Willy and leaned with her back against his chest. She leaned her head back onto his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I love you, Lauren."

Lauren turned her head and nuzzled Willy's neck lightly for a moment. She then brought her lips up to his ear.

"I love you too, Willy."

The thrill that filled Willy then could not be described by words. He spun Lauren around quickly and pulled her to him so that their lips met in a heated embrace. She had only said those words to him once, and then seemed reluctant afterwards. The openness of her saying those words were stronger than any aphrodisiac then.

Lauren then wrapped her legs around Willy's waste and he reached down to hold her thighs for extra support as he began to carry her out. He moved quickly then to get them both down to his room. They only parted lips for breath as he moved, and even then they quickly came back together. Soon, they were at the door, which Willy quickly forced open and then locked behind them.

Once inside, things became more gentle and slow.

_This is her first time. Everything has to go just right_, Willy thought to himself.

He laid her down on top of the bed and then got down next to her. For several minutes, they stayed like that, grazing their hands lightly over each other as if to test the features.

Finally, Willy took the next step. He popped open the top button of Lauren's blouse. He paused for a moment, to make sure it was ok, and she gave him a friendly look of reassurance. So Willy then continued to undo the buttons as he began to kiss down her chest and stomach. Eventually, he was able to slide the material down off of Lauren's arms.

Lauren then flipped things over so she was in control. She took off Willy's suit jacket and quickly undid his tie. After that she returned the slow ministrations of unbuttoning his shirt. He groaned as he tried to reach up to her but she kept his arms down. Once his shirt was off though, Willy growled loudly as he flipped them over again. He began to kiss around Lauren's breasts as he worked at getting off her tiered skirt.

Willy then sat back to admire her form before him. He loved her choice in underclothing. Lauren was wearing a black sequined push up bra and matching v-string. Slowly, he pushed her legs open and moved down between them.

Lauren watched, a bit nervous, yet intrigued, as Willy continued his attentions. He slid the material of her underwear aside, exposing her nether regions to the open. With his thumb, he gently rubbed her clit, instantly getting a loud moan out of Lauren. He grinned at her reaction and then moved down. Leisurely, Willy slid his tongue up and inside her, causing Lauren to scream out. He used his free arm to hold her down by her waist, because her hips were then bucking wildly as he continued to eat her out. When she was near the edge, he pulled back.

Lauren squirmed beneath him, eager for more. Willy went ahead and pulled her underwear completely off. He then reached behind her and unfastened her bra, gradually bringing it round and off of her. Her nude form before him had made his pants unbearably tight.

Caught up in her own pleasure, Lauren was still able to notice Willy's discomfort. She reached down and unfastened his pants, which he quickly kicked off. All that was then between them was the flimsy material of Willy's boxers. Lauren pulled these off as well, and after they were gone, she lightly took Willy's member in her hand. He hissed slightly at the contact. Lauren worriedly looked up into his eyes, but he smiled. She next gave him a few light strokes.

Breathing heavily, Willy then took Lauren's left nipple in his mouth, tending to the right with his hand. Lauren released her grip on him, but wrapped an arm around his back and another grabbed his head. He sucked and nibbled lightly, but gradually got rougher. Lauren cried out and Willy then switched out to her other breast. It was not long before neither one couldn take much more.

Willy broke away and shifted up, examining Lauren's expression for that final hint of reassurance. What he saw was absolute love and lust, and she nodded, feeling ready. He reached aside and grabbed a condom from Lauren's package and placed it over his member. Willy kissed her as he then slowly entered her. They both groaned into the kiss, and Willy stopped only a little ways in. He had reached her barrier.

"Do it quickly," she muttered against his lips.

Willy then pushed hard and fast to break past. Lauren screamed out in pain from the invasion. Doing everything he could to sooth her, Willy kissed Lauren's face and hushed her as he stayed still, waiting until she was ready.

He could see that she was blinking back tears, but she finally nodded to him that he could move.

Willy pulled out a little bit, and then pushed in again. He repeated the action a few times more, pulling out a bit more each time. And then a moan wss received from Lauren. The pain was forgotten because the pleasure was overtaking it. Lauren wrapped her legs around Willy's backside, wanting him to move faster. He obliged, and with her prodding goes harder, hitting that spot for her every time, causing her to cry out in ecstasy.

Willy could feel a tightening around him as Lauren neared climax. He was able to watch her as she threw her head back and screamed when finally driven over the edge. He gave her a minute to recover, and then returned to his pace from before. Moving hard and fast, it was not long before he brought on her second climax, and this was the one that pulled him in as well. They cried out in unison as she clenched around him and he shot his load into the condom.

Willy layed gently atop Lauren for a moment, as they both caight their breath, but then pulled out and rolled over beside her.

"Was it everything you hoped for?" he hazily asked.

"That and more," she replied, nearly gone to sleep.

"I love you."

"I love you too," Lauren said, rolling into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and they fell asleep in that position.


	29. Morning, Sleepyhead

Lauren yawned as she rolled over in bed. She groaned lightly from an ache she felt. This stirred another. Willy awoke to look over to his sleeping lover, noticing a slight grimace of discomfort upon her face. He felt guilty, but knew what to do to help.

Willy got up and pulled on his boxers, then running to the back of his room. He scanned through the shelves until he came across the concoction he required. Willy grabbed it and then quietly scurried back to his bed.

Laying back next to Lauren, he leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. She smiled and began to respond to the movement of his lips upon her own. Slowly, she was coaxed into opening her eyes.

"Mmm… Good morning. I think I could use wake up calls like that more often."

"Well, I wanted to keep you at peace. I noticed you don't entirely seem to be though. I'm sorry."

"Oh no," Lauren responded, shifting herself to sit more upright, "it's not your fault."

"I still feel bad."

"I'm just a little sore is all."

"I have something to help with that, though."

"Really?"

Willy nodded and then produced a chocolate swirl.

"What is this?" she asked, eyeing the curious delicacy.

"After Sweets. It's a chocolate to help take care of after effects of any special… activities…"

"And will I sprout antlers when I eat it?"

"No, no, no," Willy quickly responded, "it's not on the market simply because it wasn't found to be 'acceptable.' People were afraid that more people would partake in these sort of things unnecessarily while relying on its help."

"Gotcha. Well, in that case, hand it over," Lauren said with a smile.

She then took the candy and was delighted by the sensation it gave her of instantly melting. She closed her eyes and let the flavor rush through. It brought a warm hum to her body. She felt fully invigorated and… aroused.

Lauren reached out and pulled Willy down on her quickly, ravaging his mouth.

"That's. Another. Problem," he said between kisses, "Instant. Arousal."

"Not. Bad. For. Me."

Lauren moved down then and took one of Willy's nipples into her mouth. He cried out. She looked up to him, slightly worried.

"Heheh, never had anyone do that before…" he paused for a moment before adding, "I like it."

Lauren smiled and returned her attentions. Her hands traveled south as well. They met an unfriendly barrier though. His boxers had returned. And so wasting no time, Lauren wrenched them away.

"Willy?" she then asked.

"Yeah Lauren?"

"Would you mind if… if I tried being on top?"

Willy smiled. This girl certainly had spunk.

"Not at all!"

That's when she reached over and grabbed a condom, then placing it upon him herself. Lauren then placed her mouth over his as she slowly lowered herself over his throbbing member. Both let out a cry of pleasure instantly.

Lauren sat up, and began a steady ride up and down atop him. Willy had grabbed her hips at this point, to help her out. The tempo increased to a maddening pace for them both.

"Holy fuck! Willy, I'm so close!"

He moved one of his hands to rub her clit, making her scream with pleasure. In no time she went over the edge. He followed shortly after.

Lauren collapsed atop Willy, panting heavily.

"You're…fan…tast…ic…" she said between heavy pants.

"You too," he let out heavily, then giving her a gentle kiss.

After a few moments, she rolled over next to him.

"I suppose it's time for work… Seeing as it's day and all now…"

"And we're all icky and sticky! We mustn't dilly dally! Wash up! We're already late!" Willy cried out, leaping up.

"And I thought I was a workaholic…" she mumbled to herself.

* * *

**A/N- Soooooo sorry it took so freaking long to get this up! And yeah, it's shorter than I would have liked, but, in case the long delay wasn't hint enough, I've been busy. I'll hopefully find time to update again soon! I have many big plans that have entered my mind over time. I can't wait to spin the web!**


	30. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Willy frantically ran about, grabbing his clothes and rushing to the bathroom. After a moment, he poked his head out.

"Get up! We have work to do!" and he motioned to Lauren to come in.

Lauren slowly lifted her body out of bed and drowsily made her way towards the bathroom. She and Willy got in the shower and cleaned up quickly. When finished, she wrapped up in a towel and left, going across the hallway to her own room for clothes.

Once she was dressed and ready, she stepped out to see Willy, tapping his foot rapidly.

"What? We got ready quickly enough. You're the boss anyway. You choose the hours."

"Yes, and I choose NOW."

"Alrighty then…" she said, then following Willy off to the elevator.

* * *

They soon found themselves stepping into the Inventing Room. Charlie was already there, happily tinkering away at something or other.

"Hey Charlie. What're you up to?" Lauren called over.

Charlie called back, not looking up from his work, "I'm revising the gum."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Oh right, the desert in the full course meal. Back when I first came here, a girl was blown up like a blueberry by it."

"Oh yeah, I thought I heard something about that."

"Any luck?" Willy piped in.

"Yeah, actually. I think it's almost clear."

"Well that's just peachy keen!"

Wonka then darted off towards another device to revise himself. Lauren stood there, glancing between the two, before coming up with an idea. She darted out of the room and headed for the Tinkering Room.

* * *

Several hours later, Charlie stopped for lunch, but Willy continued to be work. Lauren was also nowhere to be found, presumably still working in the Tinkering Room. This was a shame because Charlie had something he wanted to tell his friends.

"Hmm… shouldn't be too much of a bother. Mum and Dad approve," he mused.

* * *

That evening Willy finally pulled himself away from his work to make it down to dinner. Upon arriving, he discovered Lauren had yet to arrive.

"Anyone seen Lauren?" he asked the Buckets.

"We thought she was with you, dearie," Mrs. Bucket replied.

Willy's eyebrows shot up, as a surprised look took over his visage, blending itself in with one of pondering. He suddenly turned on his heel and headed for the elevator, needing to track Lauren down.

"It's one thing when I miss dinner. She simply cannot though."

So the man went to room after room, without locating Lauren. After searching, he finally made his way to the Tinkering Room, seeing Lauren's back facing him.

Smiling to himself, he thought _Well, it is night time after all…_

Willy crept up behind Lauren and slowly placed his lips on her neck, bringing his arms around her waste.

"AAH!"

Lauren screamed and shoved Willy to the floor, but not before giving a certain area a fair hit.

Willy then laid sprawled across the floor, holding himself as he moaned in pain.

"You're…really…strong…" he struggled to get out.

"OhmygoshWilly!" she let out in one breath, instantly dropping to her knees beside him.

She kissed his forehead and gave a sorry smile.

"I didn't realize it was you! You can't sneak up on me like that!"

"Clearly."

"I got really into my work. I didn't realize what time it was. Oh wow! We're late for dinner!"

"Mmhmm."

"Are you gonna be ok?"

"Mmhmm."

Lauren helped Willy get up and they then headed for the elevator. They quickly made it back to the Buckets' for dinner.

"Just in time! She's almost here!" Charlie cried, upon seeing his friends.

"Who?" Willy asked, feeling better after his…incident.

"Stacy!"

"Charlie's got himself a girlfriend," Mr. Bucket smiled, but his grin quickly dropped as he added, "I'm so sorry, Lauren."

"Oh no, no, no, don't be," she replied, "I helped set him up."

"Really?" Mrs. Bucket seemed puzzled.

"Our friendship is platonic, really. We weren't meant for more, and we've realized that. From what I can tell Stacy's great."

"Well then, I bet she's swell. Although I wish I knew a guest was coming to my factory," Willy piped in.

"Sorry Willy. I guess I didn't think about that," Charlie's smile slipped a tad.

"It's alright… just don't do it again," he smiled.

There was then a knock at the door.

"Mom, please!" a muffled voice cried behind the door.

"I just want to meet the boy. And his parents," a second voice responded.

Mrs. Bucket quickly pushed her way to the door and opened it wide.

"Welcome to our home! It's so great to meet you! I'm Mrs. Bucket! Come in, come in!"

The two walked in and the mother introduced them both.

"Well this is Stacy and I'm Victoria."

Willy's jaw dropped.


	31. Uncomfortable Topics

"Now that I've seen who my daughter is spending time with, I'm _quite _happy," Victoria said, with emphasis directed towards Willy.

Just as it looked as if she was to go, Mrs. Bucket spoke up.

"Won't you stay for dinner, dear?"

"Oh no, I really couldn't intrude…"

"Nonsense! Sit at once!" Mrs. Bucket exclaimed, with a slight shove towards the dinner table. She then also grabbed Stacy's hand and plopped the girl next to her mother. Charlie was then also pulled alongside his little friend. Lauren was then placed across from Charlie, and Willy, quite unfortunately, across from Victoria . Also between the secret couple was placed Grandma Georgina, for reasons unbeknownst to all.

Once Mr. Bucket was comfortably seated at the head of the table, he started, "We are all quite-""happy to have you here! I hope the cooking settles well with you and don't be afraid to eat whatever sized portion best suits you. We only want to please our guests!" Mrs. Bucket interrupted, speaking fairly quickly.

Victoria smiled, saying, "This night really is for the children though."

Willy had not said a single word, and it continued that way through most of the dinner. Lauren didn't notice though, as she was busy having a particularly animated conversation with Charlie and Stacy.

The second Victoria found a window of opportunity to escape Mrs. Bucket's running mouth, she took it. Perhaps Willy would notice as well.

"So Lauren, you're a summer intern, right?"

"That I am."

"Great opportunity for a girl such as yourself, isn't it?"

"Oh absolutely phenomenal. Getting to be here is incredible and I simply adore working alongside Charlie and Willy. They give me many an opportunity to challenge myself in new and intriguing manners."

"Aren't you a busy girl? Well, despite all this work, I'm sure you've found time for play, right?"

Willy had certainly perked his ears the moment he heard Victoria begin speaking to Lauren, but now he actually looked up to see where Lauren would take her response.

"I like to think that I'm good friends with everyone here, and I certainly take time to explore both the factory and city for simply my own personal enjoyment," Lauren responded, not wanting to go down the route she suspected Victoria prodding towards. The woman seemed to be the superficial prying type, which was quite unfortunate considering how sweet Stacy was.

"Do you have anyone to go on these excursions with?"

"Well, I have a girlfriend in the city here."

"Any _boy_friends though?"

Lauren smirked, "You missed my meaning. Truth be told, I'm gay."

Everyone at the table went into a severe choking fit over their food. Victoria didn't know how to react. Was this a joke? Surprised was an understatement for all.

Willy, on the other hand, was fighting a severe fit of giggles. It had taken him a moment, but he soon caught on to this being his little smartass going against someone she didn't like.

"B-but Lauren… You went out with Charlie…" Mrs. Bucket slowly responded.

"As friends. When he didn't understand I explained. Now don't tell me you're all homophobic, are you?"

"No, no! Not at all, Lauren! Nothing has changed, nothing at all," cut in Mr. Bucket.

"Lauren's the same Lauren she was when we met her, and that's who we all love," Charlie said, with a quick wink to Lauren. He, too, caught on to her fun.

"I think we're all finished here. Charlie, love, why don't you take Stacy on a tour. Willy, you do the same for Victoria ."

Before Willy could protest, Lauren asked, "Any orders for me, Mrs. Bucket?"

"No, no dear. You just… you can just do what you do here. I may want to talk to you in about an hour though."

Lauren nodded and headed on out. Charlie and Stacy had already disappeared, needing no further orders. Victoria was left merely looking expectantly at Willy.

"Ready?" she asked innocently.

Willy just nodded without making eye contact, stubbornly leading the way out.

The second they were out of sight of the Buckets', Victoria wrapped her arms around Willy and savagely took his lips with her own. Willy immediately reacted by pushing her away.

"Why that's no way to treat the mother of your child."

"Well that's no way to- WHAT?!"

"You heard me."

Willy took a few steps back, his mind racing.

_She's the right age._

"She's so much like you too. And her birthday's in spring, March to be exact."

"Then you must've been-"

"Two months along when I left, almost."

Willy shook his head and sat on the ground.

"But… why? Why would you leave? We were getting married and you were _pregnant_?! And didn't even tell me?!"

"I was scared you'd reject her."

"I'd never!" he yelled, then standing straight up.

"Then why didn't you look for me after I left?"

* * *

"So if you don't mind my asking, where's your dad?"

"Which one?"

Charlie just gave Stacy a look of complete and total confusion.

"Well, Mom just broke up with Chris, Dad 5 for me."

"Oh well… who was 1?"

"I don't know. Mom never let me meet him. Although I kind of feel like that's why we're here now."

"What do you mean?"

"We just moved here from Coventry . All she said was that someone important who could help us lived here."

"I could help," Charlie smiled meekly.

Stacy smiled wide and gave him a tight hug.

* * *

Lauren had just decided to chill in her room reading and listening to music while she waited for Mrs. Bucket. An interesting combination, it was. She had Slipknot playing while reading The Radicalism of the American Revolution. Didn't quite fit, but they were the things she was in the mood for.

"Lauren?"

"Door's open, Mrs. Bucket," Lauren responded, then turning down her music.

Mrs. Bucket cautiously let herself in and then sat beside Lauren on the bed.

Sighing, she then slowly began, "Lauren, I like to think of myself as an open minded woman-"

"I'm not gay."

"What? But you said-"

" Victoria was prying and it got on my nerves. Stacy is fantastic, but her mother is a perfect pest."

"You lied."

"Not entirely. I am bisexual, but with a significant level of preference towards men. I assumed Victoria would leave me alone if I were a full lesbian though."

"You can't just-"

"I know, but I was also curious as to how the rest of y'all would take it. There is nothing wrong with being homosexual. You seem to be the type that wants to agree, but doesn't."

"You have to understand that I was-""Surprised, thus giving the most honest response."Mrs. Bucket was speechless.

"Mrs. Bucket, you have to understand that there are different people in the world. And no one is 100% in either direction. Women are attractive. It's ok to admit it. It's just as ok as seeing men as attractive. Attraction is natural."

Mrs. Bucket silently nodded.

"I think I'm going to see if there's anything I can work on now, ok?"

Another singular nod.

* * *

"I did!"

"Well… not very well. You missed everything."

This is what tore Willy.

"I… I don't love you Victoria, but I want to know Stacy."

"Shouldn't Stacy be allowed a stable home life? For once?"

"Maybe with time," Willy said with a shaky smile to Victoria.


	32. Torturous Thoughts

Victoria got up and quietly left to get Stacy so they both could leave. Willy had a lot to think about. Wordlessly, he made his way down the hallways of the factory, trying to fully comprehend the entire concept of his being a father.

"Willy! ¿Qué estás haciendo aquí?" a voice called.

Willy looked up to find himself in the Dulces Room. Lauren was working on some sort of Mexican lollipop.

"Estos dulces me molestan lo más. Necesitamos mejorarlos."

"What?"

"Oh, sorry. I was in my zona de español."  
"Oh."

"You don't look so hot," Lauren started, wrapping her arms around Willy's neck, "Do you need your lesbian to take you to rest in your room?"

"Heh, sure."

Willy was oddly quiet. Lauren expected some innocent comment about not looking hot despite it being a common phrase, but no dice. Something was up.

Lauren quietly led Willy down to his room, where they both changed into pajamas. They climbed into bed with Willy flat on his back, Lauren on her side. She ran her hand gently through his hair in a relaxing manner.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, Willy. Tell me the truth."

"It's nothing."

Lauren placed her fact near his and said, "Maybe I could kiss it better."  
"It's NOTHING, OK?!" Willy yelled, turning his back to Lauren.

This made her get up and yell back.

"What is WRONG with you? I want to fucking talk to help you becauseI CARE! Now you're sketchy. Where did you go? Make up your mind, you bastard!"

Willy looked up to Lauren to see her eyes welled up full of tears.

He couldn't do this.

He sat up, arms open.

"Come here," he said softly.

Lauren buried herself into his embrace. He held her head against him and pressed his face into her hair.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"I'm sorry for name calling."

"It's not you. You don't ever need to lose security about how I feel about you. I just don't want to talk about this just yet."

"Don't you trust me?"

"More than I trust myself, but I need to figure some things out right now. Will you allow me that?"

Lauren smiled to him, "I suppose I could do that."

They then laid back down and she gave him a quick kiss goodnight, then snuggling herself up against him. It took little time for her to fall asleep, as it'd been a long day. Willy's long day, however, resulted in the opposite. Mind racing, he could only stare up blankly. There was one horrid thought on his mind.

_They're the same age._


	33. Looking for Answers

In the morning Willy woke to an empty bed. He dressed and headed out to work in the Likeness Room. There, he discovered Lauren and Charlie in a heated debate.

Willy cleared his throat.

The teenagers looked up then, and both immediately started talking to him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! One at a time!" Willy exclaimed, hands raised.

"_Well_, I believe that we should let out a series of candies that look like celebrities," Charlie explained.

"I, on the other hand," Lauren started, "believe that it not only could not work, but is cliché. We could never get the legal rights to the celebrities we actually want to produce, and that's cheap marketing. I believe we should create characters that can be their own unique flavors for people to identify with."

"I believe that Charlie has a very good idea," began Willy, immediately placing a smug grin upon Charlie's visage, "but Lauren makes a strong argument," Lauren's face brightened while Charlie's dropped, "so I want you both to give me a series of designs by the end of the day and that's when the decision will be made."

Lauren and Charlie nodded and then immediately darted off to get to work.

Willy then sat down next to the phone in the room. He wanted to avoid this, but knew he couldn't. He had to make things right.

He reached down.

He picked up the phone.

He dialed.

He heard ringing.

He heard a voice.

He hung up.

"These sort of things really are better off being handled in person," he said, rising to his feet.

"Really, telephones are so impersonal. Don't get me started on mail. And emails are right out."

Willy soon found himself soaring through the air standing in his glass elevator.

"It's better this way. I really can handle this just fine. I am, after all, the genius Willy Wonka."

He was in front of the door.

He gulped.

He rung the doorbell.

He spun around on his heel.

"Then again-"

"Mr. Wonka?"

Willy froze. He'd been caught. And by none other than Stacy herself.

The man slowly turned back around.

"Umm... you can call me Willy," he said with an awkward grin, wringing his gloved hands.

"Ok, well, can I help you Willy?"

"I... I just wanted to talk to you... about some things..."

"Is everything ok?"

"Oh just swell! Fine and dandy!"

"Ok, well, let me tell my mum that-"

"Please don't tell her it's me."

"Why?"

"This is just between you and me, kay?"

"Well, alright," she eyed him suspiciously as she turned and went off. Stacy was back in a quick moment.

"Ok, it's fine. Let's go," she smiled, walking out and closing the door.

Willy led the way over to his glass elevator. Unbeknownst to him, Victoria was watching through a window with the grandest smirk imaginable.

* * *

"So... it's just you and your mom?" Willy asked as he and Stacy arrived at the park.

"Yeah. She hasn't had much luck with guys, it seems."

"Why's that?"

"She says that none of them are good father figures."

Willy swallowed hard.

"Real-ly? So, umm, what do you think about the father thing?"

"I don't know. I wish I had one around, but Mum doesn't seem to be the relationship type. Men don't quite fit. She just wants financial security."

"Oh?" Willy's eyebrows rose high, "And where does Charlie fit into this?"

"Oh don't get me wrong here, Willy," Stacy quickly responded, "I really like Charlie. I really don't think I'm much like Mum though."

Willy nodded, his eyes glazed as the gears churned.

"Willy? You ok?"

"Oh! Yeah, fantastic. Sorry about that. I just wanted to make sure Charlie'd be ok. I care for him like a son, being my heir. Let's get you back home."

Stacy smiled and nodded as the two headed back.

* * *

Upon arrival at the girl's flat, she turned to say goodbye, but before she could, Willy spoke.

"Could I speak with your mom for a moment?" he asked.

"Sure," Stacy said, though slightly confused. She then let him in and led him to her mom's room.

"Oh what a pleasant surprise, Mr. Wonka," Victoria grinned.

"I need to speak with you."

"Stacy, can you leave us alone for awhile?"

Stacy obliged, but was puzzled by the tones used by the adults. The door was closed and locked behind her.

"I want a DNA test," Willy said, the second the door was secure.

"And why's that? We were still together when she was conceived."

"It was towards the end and you've given me significant reason not to trust you. Stacy has as well."

Victoria simply arched a single eyebrow at this.

"I don't know if I can believe you."  
"Are you accusing me of what I think?" Victoria's voice rose.

"Yes."  
"I was always faithful!"

"How can I be sure of that?!"

Victoria came closer to Willy as she yelled, "We were in _love_ and were _engaged_! Why wouldI throw that away for a fling?!"

"How should I know?! You're crazy!"

"_I'm_ crazy?! _I'm_ crazy?! _You're_ crazy!"

"About you!"

The two were breathing heavily, standing face to face, when their lips came crashing together suddenly. Tongues roped together in angry passion, their hands were everywhere at once as clothing was quickly shed. The passion from the beginning blazed between them. This blazing led them to the bed, both fully disrobed.

Victoria spread her legs wide with the couple's mouths never splitting. Willy quickly forced himself inside her, shoving in and out like mad. Neither would last long.

Victoria moaned into Willy's mouth as she scratched her nails down his back. She gripped hard into his shoulder blades as she was brought over the edge. Shortly after Willy released hard into Victoria. She milked him of all he had.

For a few minutes then, the two were only breathing heavily with Willy resting atop Victoria, still inside her. After some time, he rolled over to the side. Exhausted, they both slipped into a slumber.


	34. Bad Decisions Lead to Bad Situations

Several hours later, Willy slowly reemerged from his post adultery nap. He had to get out.

He scrambled to gather his clothes, but noticed a notepad on Victoria's nightstand. He scrawled a quick note:

_I still want the test._

Willy left this on the nightstand and then left the room and home of the sleeping Victoria. His fast moving feet went right past the elevator. He only had to return to the factory and continue moving quickly. Escape his actions to do something right. Work was always right.

* * *

Upon his arrival Willy darted straight for his office, where he slipped into his chair. An observant Oompa Loompa noticed the lack of the invisible elevator and went to activate its return setting.

Willy had sat, head in his hands, at his desk for not even 2 minutes when a pack of sketches was plopped before him. His confused expression was lost on the grinning Charlie.

"Oh! Right! The candies!"

A disinterested but trying to appear enthralled Willy then glanced through the candy forms of Paris Hilton, the Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana, and a few no talent hacks like Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, and Freddy Highmore.

"Mmhm... good," Willy mumbled.

"And?" Charlie asked eagerly.

"And I'll tell you more tomorrow."

Charlie nodded and stepped out, and just as Willy slumped back, Lauren entered.

She sat her sketches down next to Charlie's, and Willy immediately picked them up and placed them in front of his face. He couldn't look her in the eye.

She started to sit when he cleared his voice and quickly squeaked out, "I'll get back to you on this tomorrow."

Lauren shrugged and stepped out. Willy seemed off, but then again, when was he ever on?

After Lauren left Willy placed her sketches on the desk and then slunk to the floor to crawl under his desk. He held his knees to his chest and let out a whimpering sigh.

"I'm a bad person. I'm a bad person. I'm a bad person..." he just kept muttering over and over to himself.

No one could say that Willy didn't have a guilty conscience.

* * *

Willy was not see at dinner that night. It was assumed that he was working at Lauren's and Charlie's sketches. It was assumed he was being a normal workaholic. It was assumed that everything was normal.

It was no wonder why the sight in Lauren's room was an absolute shock to her.


	35. Accidental Revelation

Willy did not leave his office that night. He didn't even leave from his place under the desk. Not even when he heard shouting.

He did not budge.

* * *

Lauren said goodbye to the Buckets and had a few playful words of competition with Charlie. Morning would likely bring answers after the day's work.

And so she headed on her way down to her room, humming the song "Be Free" by Papa Roach, unaware as to how soon she would share that mindset.

She soon reached her room and opened the door. The room was dark but when she stepped in the lights came on.

"What are _you_ doing here?!" escaped the lips of two individuals.

"This is my fucking room!" an enraged Lauren let out.

This was when the other individual's eyes widened considerably.

"Shit," she whispered.

"Don't just stand there! Put some clothes on and explain!"

Victoria knew she was in deep, but decided to try some quick thinking to get out. The nude woman got up off the bed and slowly stepped up to Lauren.

"What kind of explaining did you have in mind?" she asked in a slow and sultry voice.

"The kind where you tell me why you're nude in my room."

Victoria stepped up closer to Lauren, placing her mouth up to the girl's ear.

In a whisper she said, "Would your girlfriend mind?"

Lauren shoved Victoria away.

"Talk."

Victoria just rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on. Don't tell me you're into monotony at your age? Experimentation with the experienced can be quite a thrill."

"So can prison."

Victoria rose her eyebrows at the unfaltering strength of Lauren's voice.

She sat down on the bed and placed herself into a strategic position.

"What would you say if I told you that you impressed me on multiple levels last night?"

"I'd say you're a dirty liar. Now quit the bullshit and be straight."

"That's ironic."

"Hardy-har-har. Do I need to get Willy in here?"

Victoria smirked. In put on fear she said, "Oh no, oh no. Anything but that."

"Wow. That was the worst acting ever. So why do you want Wi-lly..." Lauren's voice dropped as her eyes widened.

"We have _adult_ matters to handle," Victoria winked.

And that's when Lauren slapped Victoria across the face.

"Get the FUCK out of this factory!" she yelled.

Victoria was actually intimidated by the enraged teen at this point, so she grabbed her clothing and then made her way out. Lauren's eyes burned into the woman the entire time.

* * *

The second Victoria was out of sight, Lauren made her way across the hall to Willy's room. He wasn't there. The next place to check would be his office. She wanted an explanation.


	36. Shattering to Pieces

Knocking. Gently at first, and then fierce.

"Yes?" a muffled voice replied.

"We need to talk," a harsher one responds.

Lauren opened the door and entered Willy's office, sitting herself down across from the empty desk.

"Where are you?"

A gloved hand rose up behind the desk and waved slightly. This made Lauren go around to the other side of the desk and sit in Willy's chair, so she could see the crouching man.

"We need to talk."

Willy looked up to her with big, round eyes full of guilt and fear.

"Why was Victoria looking for you?"

"I... don't know, actually," Willy said with a slight frown, knowing it was too soon for her to have DNA results.

"She was in my room. Nude."

Willy shot his head up and cried out as it instantly made contact with the desk.

"Surprising, no?"

Willy was quiet.

"What's going on between you two?"

Willy's eyes filled with tears he refused to release.

"We were engaged," he mumbled.

"_She's_ the one that left you? So what's she doing back?"

"She says... she says Stacy's my daughter."

Lauren jumped up from the seat. This wasn't what she was expecting.

"And... and w-why was she nude?"

"I-" Willy choked up some, struggling not to release the tears, "I slept with her."

Lauren's voice also strained as she quietly asked, "When?"

"T-t-t" he couldn't say it, but she knew.

"It's over. We are coworkers. Mentor and intern. No more," Lauren said coldly, turning on her heel to leave. She didn't want him to see the silent tears she was releasing.

Willy, too, was crying at this point. Tears were falling shamelessly as he buried his head in his arms.

* * *

The following morning Lauren went to work with bloodshot eyes. A concerned Charlie asked what was wrong, but Lauren said she wished not to speak of it. And so the two worked without word from Willy. They eventually went to lunch and then returned, still without hearing from the factory owner.

Around 6, just as the 2 were getting ready to head to dinner, an announcement came on.

"Would all staff, with the exception of the Oompa Loompas, make their way to the office of Willy Wonka at this time."

That would only be Charlie and Lauren. They made their way down, unsure as to what was going on. Upon entering the office, they found it empty. They glanced around trying to figure out what precisely was going on.

"Willy?" Charlie called out.

"Let's just go to dinner," Lauren prodded, not really wanting to be in this room again so soon.

Right when they were about to do just that, they heard a voice call out, "Wait!"

An exhausted looking Willy was seen then standing behind his desk with two small black bags. He handed one to each of them. They revealed the contents of their bags to be candies. More specifically, Lauren's designs. There was the Tessa Bell- a bell shaped chocolate with a smile and bright green eyes and marshmallow filling, the Cat Attack- a kitten shaped cookie with a wicked grin and chocolate filling, and the Bianca Bounce- a ball shaped gummy with a serene visage and a juicy filling.

"They ship out to stores tomorrow," Willy then said.

Lauren and Charlie's heads shot up then. One day of development? It was unheard of.

"I've been working all day and most of last night on this to get it ready so soon."

Charlie glanced between Lauren and Willy then and noticed the uneasiness each seemed to have.

"Are you two... doing all right?"

"Are we?" Willy asked quietly.

Lauren threw the candies to the floor and stormed out of the room. She wasn't having this. You don't forgive a cheater. That was her philosophy. There were too many honest men in the world to deal with that.

Lauren went straight to her room, no longer hungry for dinner. She didn't even know if she could maintain her willpower to stay.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, so this is where I need some reader input. I have multiple ideas about where I could take this, but I don't know what I should do. Let me know your opinions about the situation.**


	37. B2x Update Teaser

Hey, I know I haven't posted an update in a while, but I've been pretty busy. I'm going to do all that I can to try and get an update in this week. In the meantime, check out this spectacular roleplay site based with characters from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp films. I happen to play Edward from the initial collaboration between these two greats. Check it out and maybe you could hop in on all the fun!

beburtonesque . proboards40 . com

(minus spaces)


	38. Taking Care of Business

_PirateWin91: Hey._

_Lbooks93: Hey..._

_PirateWin91: How's England treating you?_

_Lbooks93: Could be better._

_PirateWin91: What do you mean? You were so stoke to be going._

_Lbooks93: Let's just say things have gotten out of hand pretty damn quickly._

_PirateWin91: You can't tell me the great Lauren has stressed herself out? Wasn't it you who said it wasn't possible for you to get overworked? Ever?_

_Lbooks93: Well I'm not being overworked..._

_PirateWin91: Is it a boy?_

_Lbooks93: Why do you always think it's a boy?_

_PirateWin91: Because it always is._

_Lbooks93: Fair enough._

_PirateWin91: So you want to tell me what's going on?_

_Lbooks93: More than anything I just want everything to be right... A familiar face would be nice ;)_

_PirateWin91: What, you think that just because my mum's British I can fly over any time I want?_

_Lbooks93: No... I think that just because you love me and you're bored with summer you're willing to fly here to make me feel better._

_Lbooks93: Unless that's asking too much..._

_PirateWin91: ..._

_PirateWin91: You win. I'll be there by the end of the week._

Lauren logged off and closed her laptop with a smile on her face. She could always count on Peter. Hanging around the factory was hell right now, so having someone as reliable as her best friend would certainly smooth things out. Well, not necessarily smooth things out, but at least make it possible for her to make it though the summer.

Lauren then left her room and headed to work. It was early morning for her, and late at night back at home. Teens have that kooky thing with staying up all night when there's nothing to do. And when there is. Anyway, Lauren figured that if she kept herself busy until Peter got there, she could keep Willy off her mind.

* * *

Willy was just lying in bed, completely unwilling to move. Work was his passion, his reason for living, and yet... now it seemed pointless.

There was a faint buzzing to be heard, but Willy ignored it. He placed his pillow over his head, wanting to just crawl into a hole. But the buzzing got louder, and louder, and louder still. Finally he pulled the pillow off and sat straight up yelling, "WHAT?!"

He found standing before his bed an Oompa Loompa with a note. It handed the parchment over to the candy maker and then quickly scootched off. Willy took the paper and merely glanced at it, about to toss it, when he noticed who it was from.

_To Willy  
From Victoria_

Willy quickly ripped it open to read its contents.

_ Willy, I know you're wrapped up in this silly issue of needing a blood test, so I suppose I'll go along with it. Come down to the downtown hospital at 2pm to meet Stacy and me._

_Kisses!  
Victoria_

Willy looked to the clock in his room then. It was already 12:30. He had slept half the day away! He had to hurry if he was going to make it downtown by 2! And so with energy he had not been capable of earlier, he leapt out of bed and jumped into the shower.

* * *

Willy stood in the hospital lobby tapping his foot wildly. The sooner they got there, the sooner he could get this over with, and the sooner he could know what was necessary in dealing with Victoria.

And of course, running fashionably late at five after, in trounced Victoria. She wore a skin tight dress with a low cut V neck. She wasn't trying hard, or anything. She was followed by a confused looking Stacy, to whom Willy gave a meager grin. He paid no heed to Victoria.

"Well, I suppose we should head in to give them the samples," Victoria smiled, playing a few fingers across Willy's chest as she walked by.

Willy groaned and followed behind the troubling woman. Stacy was trying to simply figure out what was meant by samples and why Willy was here.

The three were soon led into separate rooms, though, so each could administer the blood sample. Willy wasted no time in questioning his nurse.

"How long until I get the results?" he asked, upon entering the room.

"Looks like someone doesn't want to pay child support."

"Money is no matter. Truth is what matters. Liars are nasty, filthy people and I do not wish to be associated with them."

The nurse rose an eyebrow before replying, "Well sir, it's going to be 3-10 business days."

"How can I make sure it comes through as soon as possible?"

"Just hope, I suppose, sir. Now please take off your jacket and roll up your left sleeve."

* * *

When all was done, Willy rushed directly toward Victoria. This afternoon had been rushed, and so he was wasting no time in getting things straight.

"I will not let you ruin my life a second time," he said, his tone calm despite the anger held behind it.

"Ruin? You're the one who got _me_ pregnant."

"You left me. You told me nothing. You parade yourself around my factory like you own the place. You even insulted my girlfriend. I've had enough of you. If these results come out positive, I wish to have no contact with you, only communicating through Stacy. If negative, then I don't have to worry about contact with you at all."

With that Willy turned on his heel and marched off. He was forced to stop when Victoria called after him.

"Girlfriend, you say?"


	39. A Serious Situation

He could've died then and there. Did he really just say that? Did he really just let the big secret slip to the worst possible person in the world? Cringing, he slowly turned to meet his maker.

"What? No! Why would I say that! That's just silly!" Willy quickly responded, "What I _actually_ said was intern. You should get your ears checked."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Willy. Whatever happened to the brilliant confectioner I was engaged to all those years ago? Now you can't even lie. Not like you ever fooled me though."

Willy forced a grin, acting like everything she said was absolutely preposterous. The sooner he got out of here the better.

"I think..." Victoria began, edging closer and closer to Willy as she spoke, her tone gradually becoming quieter, "that if you want your little miss to hang around, you'll do as I want. So, fuck me or get that nice little tush of yours fucked in the slammer."

Willy gulped, staring wide eyed at the predatory woman before him.

"I-I r-really should be getting back. To the factory. Work and all, hehe," he giggled nervously.

Victoria raised a single eyebrow to the wreck before her.

"Bye!" he cried out, then fleeing out the door.

Victoria then turned on her heel, a wicked grin plastered across her face, and retrieved her daughter from where she had been sitting.

* * *

Willy didn't know how things could get any worse. He was being blackmailed now, with his entire livelihood put at risk. This required some quick thinking. Upon returning to the factory, he ran immediately to his office, placed a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door, and locked himself inside.

* * *

"Charlie?"

"Hi, Stacy! How are you today?" Charlie cheerfully asked his girlfriend over the phone.

"Well, I think something serious is about to go down. Can you meet me at the park in 20 minutes?"

"Are you ok?!" he worriedly responded.

"I'm fine," Stacy reassured him, "but I'm concerned for some of your friends."

* * *

**A/N: Hey, sorry for my long absence. Y'all've been great. To say things in my life have been hectic as of late would be an understatement. Now, I know this chapter is short, but it's sort of a teaser for the next one, which shall be up soon. I just felt like it was a good stopping point to keep my precious fans eager for more. Can ya dig? ;)**


	40. Time for Some Quick Thinking

Sitting on a bench, thoughts whirred about in young Stacy's head. She wasn't sure what was going on, but what she did know she needed to relay to her closest confidant. Evidently, that could not be her mother, as the woman regularly gave her more reasons not to trust her.

Huffing from running as fast as he could, Charlie came up to his girlfriend, too exhausted to speak. In any other situation, this would've made Stacy giggle at his cuteness, but matters were too grave for that.

"Charlie," she began, once he had balanced himself out, "it's about Lauren and Willy."

"Oh, umm, what do you know?" he asked, trying to seem nonchalant about what he knew. None of this was his to tell.

"My mother found out about their relationship."

"What! They're not in any sort of relationship!" Charlie immediately blurted out.

"Calm down. You don't have to put this on for me. It doesn't matter to me, but it does to my mother. I think she's blackmailing Willy."

"What would make you think that?"

"Well, today she took us to the hospital for blood tests. The three of us. She thought I wasn't listening, but the situation was just too weird for me not to pay attention. I know that they were engaged before, and I think she's using me against him. I may be his daughter."

This was the news that made the boy truly sputter, for, while he had no biological relation to his mentor, Willy was like family to him, which would make Stacy family...

Stacy reached an arm around Charlie to calm him, rubbing his shoulder gently.

"We can cross that bridge when we reach it. But the real issue here is what happened after the tests."

Charlie nodded to Stacy as she spoke, giving her his full attention, not that he hadn't before, but he knew it was especially important now.

"He got upset with my mother. He tried to stay quiet so as not to cause a scene, but after he stormed off, my mother called back to him, 'Girlfriend, you say?' and I think that he slipped up. He then stuttered something about an intern, which led me to believe he was talking about Lauren. He tried to hide it from her, but she saw right through him. That's when she got really close to him and whispered something to him that made him look terrified. Then he ran off."

Charlie was quiet for a moment, taking in the information. The factory could be lost. Lauren's record could be ruined for her with trying to get into college. Willy could go to prison. Charlie's family would be out of house and home. This could ruin everything.

Finally, after several moments of silence, Charlie looked Stacy directly in the eyes and said, "We have to do something about this. We have to stop your mum."

* * *

"Knock, knock."

Sighing, Lauren called out, "Who is it?"

"Well gee, that's no way to greet a friend. Especially not after he flew overseas for ya."

Lauren's eyes widened and she turned away from her work, her smile stretching from ear to ear.

"PETER!" she cried out, running over to her friend and knocking him to the ground.

"Oof! Man, you've never been this friendly before. Is it the European air? Or are you really _that _desperate?"

Lauren redistributed her weight, but remained atop her friend.

"I've been avoiding practically everyone for days. You have _no idea_ how good it is to see you."

"Of course I do. I get to see me in the mirror every day. I'm quite fantastic, aren't I?"

Lauren laughed and smacked Peter upside the head, finally letting him up then.

"Let me just finish up what I'm doing here, and then I can give you a tour and we can talk. Just don't cause any trouble while you're waiting."

A mischievous glint crossed Peter's eyes, to which Lauren gave him a stern look. They both laughed, and she got busy. Peter was intrigued by what Lauren was doing, but she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, so really, what harm could a pre-tour on his own do?

He quietly made his way out of the room and into the halls, hoping to come across something of interest. Before long, he realized what really was required was finding something that _wasn't_ of interest.

"Damn, the Whipped Cream Room came straight out of Literal Village."

Before long, though, Peter came across a certain DO NOT DISTURB sign, to which, he of course had to respond. The young man dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, from which he pulled a credit card. He slid it into the door crack, waiting to hear the _pop_ of it becoming unlocked. Worked like a charm. Grinning to himself, he carefully turned the knob, cracking the door open ever-so-slowly. Maybe he could catch someone doing something even more outrageous than whipping cows.

"PETER!"

He dropped his head in disappointment. He'd been caught. However... seeing as it was Lauren, perhaps she'd be willing to get in on the fun.

"Come on, like you're not interested in what's behind Door Number One."

"I most certainly am NOT interested."

"Aww, come on, not even a little bit?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and edging her slightly toward the door.

"No."

"And why's that?"

"Remember how you suggested I was having boy problems?"

Peter's expression suddenly hardened as he grunted, "So is that where the little fucker is? If he caused you this much upset, then I most certainly want to give him a piece of my mind."

"Peter, no!" But Lauren was too late. Peter had already swung the door wide open, bringing a disgruntled looking Willy Wonka into view, as he was working tirelessly at some notes on his desk. He was muttering things to himself, not even taking notice of his sudden visitors. Peter would have none of this.

"Hey! You!" he yelled, charging up directly in front of the desk.

Willy glanced up briefly and then went back to his work. This man was irrelevant.

Peter grabbed Willy then and pulled the man up, so that he was standing directly before him. He couldn't be ignored now.

Quite upset now, Willy cried out, "I don't know who you are or how you got in, but I'm very busy and have no time for your nonsense!"

"Yeah, just like you don't have time for the most amazing girl in the world. All you care about is your fucking work, eh?"

Upon hearing mention of a girl, Willy suddenly noticed that Lauren was standing just behind his aggressor.

"Lauren!" he cried out, then pulling himself out of Peter's tight grip, which was no small feat, to run up to her.

This had been exactly what she was afraid of. Forced confrontation. But the absolute panic she saw in Willy's eyes made her consider him for a minute. Maybe he needed help.

"Willy, what's wrong?"

"Victoria! She's bl-" and then the chocolateer cut himself short. There was a stranger in the room.

Lauren took notice of his sudden worry over Peter's presence. She stepped away from Wonka and went back to lock the door. She then turned back and said, "This is Peter, my friend from the states. Anything you have to tell me you can say in front of him."

Willy looked unsure for a moment, but then decided that if Lauren could trust this man, then so could he. Taking a deep breath, he then began, "Victoria's blackmailing me. She found out about us."

The color instantly drained from Lauren's already pale complexion. Peter went to her and wrapped a reassuring arm around her.

"What do you mean? What's she going to do to the two of you?" Peter asked, now concerned.

"She threatened to report us. I could get sent to jail. The factory would be lost. You'd be sent back home," he nodded to Lauren, "She wants me to stay with her."

"This... this can't be," Lauren shakily whispered, barely regaining her voice.

"Well, have you figured anything out?" Peter hopefully asked Willy.

Willy could only shake his head sadly.

"How much can she do though? I mean, it's not like you two have done anything serious."

Lauren looked up sheepishly to Peter.

"Whoa! You not only broke her heart, but you took her virginity?! Now I'm _really_ gonna kick your ass!"

Peter made to charge forward, but Lauren held him back.

"We have more serious matters to deal with right now," she then looked to Willy and asked, "Does she have anything to make her believe that we've slept together?"

"I- no, I don't think so."

"What does she know?"

"That you're my girlfriend."

"Anything else?"

"No."

"Then we should be ok... There would be heavy investigation, but as there are no laws against _dating_ a minor, we should be safe. We just need to keep things low key. Charlie's the only one who knew during anyway. It's not like there will be any future sex or relationship in general between us anyway."

Willy nodded sadly. He was not upset by the notion of not having sex with Lauren. He was upset that any sort of relationship they had had no chance of reblooming in her eyes.

"Talk to Victoria. Get some shit straightened out. Don't let her know anything and just make sure she knows she can't push us around."

With that, Lauren led Peter out of the office with her. The situation was handled, as far as she was concerned. Far too much time had been spent with Willy, however. What she really needed was some good friend time with Peter. He always knew how to make her feel better.

* * *

"Mom, we need to talk."


	41. Balancing Act

"So clearly with all that's going on in your life, _I _could use a little sightseeing."

"You would," Lauren smirked as she smacked Peter's arm.

"Well, duh," he responded, wrapping an arm around Lauren's shoulders as he led her out of the factory.

* * *

"Why are you blackmailing Willy Wonka?"

"I-I... what?" Victoria stuttered, staring back at her daughter in schock.

"You heard me."

"Why, I'm not-"

"Don't lie to me."

Victoria sighed and then looked back up to her daughter before starting, "Don't you want a father?"

"What does blackmail have to do with that?"

"Well he may be-"

"I know," Stacy interrupted, "but why is blackmail the only way?"

Victoria searched for sympathy in her daughter's cold gaze. She reached out for her hand, but Stacy wretched it away. Crestfallen, she merely dropped her head.

"You're a cold, heartless bitch."

With those words Stacy turned on her heel and left Victoria to herself.

* * *

"Peter, what are you doing?!" Lauren shrieked with an edge of delight.

The pair found themselves out on the streets of London and Peter had proceeded to grab hold of the side of a brick building. He was attempting to find the right footing to bring himself up its wall.

"Well, I thought I'd get a better view of the city from up here."

"Yeah, well I'm sure the view'll be great as you're falling to your death!"

Peter looked down at Lauren and gave his winning smile to show his mischievous glint that had given her proof of his joke. Lauren gave him a mock glare, but then he started to sway. Lauren panicked and tried to get in position to have a chance to catch him, to which Peter instantly stepped down and began laughing at her.

Bringing himself down the wall, he then said, "You actually fell for that? _You,_ of all people?"

Slapping his arm, Lauren retorted, "You shouldn't scare me like that! Even joking can lead to the real thing."

Shaking his head, Peter simply wrapped an arm around Lauren's shoulders and sighed.

"So, where are we going first?"

* * *

Things were getting out of hand. Willy needed his control, yet he now had not an ounce of it left. That was why he'd been so jumpy as of late. He leapt out of his seat at any sound, especially the knocking at his door that then took place.

"C-come in," he called out while attempting to regain his composure.

The door slowly creaked open to display quite an oddity. It was Victoria and... she looked... different, somehow. She stepped forward timidly, not looking Willy in the eye. Gently she placed a note on his desk and then began to turn to leave.

Conflicted and confused, Willy then placed a hand on her shoulder to impede her exit. Slowly turning, Victoria's tear stained face looked up to Willy's concerned one.

"What's going on?" he asked, afraid of the answer he'd receive.

"Stacy... left. She's going to stay with friends... maybe Charlie. I just- I'm sorry, Willy. I shouldn't have done all those things to you. It's my fault we're not together and my fault Stacy has gone away."

Willy didn't know what to say. He would console her, but he'd learned to hate her so much that it was a strong confliction for him. He also struggled with the fact that he very much agreed with everything she had said.

Instead of responding, he tentatively reached out for the note. Upon grasping it, he looked to Victoria one last time before finding the nerve to open it to read its contents.

It was the test.

Wide eyed, he looked to Victoria again, but then found himself too excited and afraid of what he'd see to waste another moment. Scanning the page rapidly, he suddenly stopped. Slowly he pulled the note away and looked to Victoria yet again. His mouth opened, but no words came out. He read the note over twice more and then finally found a voice to speak with.

"She's not mine," Victoria nodded, "and... she's not yours," Victoria nodded again, "So what happened here?"

"I adopted her. I'd been so afraid of commitment with you that... I decided to make the biggest commitment of all to make up for it."

Willy sat down and tried to wrap his head around the situation. After several moments of silence with his head in his hands, he spoke.

"Get out," he quietly ordered.

"I understand if you don't-"

"Get out," he said more confidently, looking her in the eyes then. The first glimmer of happiness he'd had in a long time began to show up in his eyes.

"But I thought maybe-"

"Get out!" he was laughing wildly as he spoke, "Get out! I have _no_ obligation to see you _ever _again, so after all of this I'm fully entitled to say GET OUT!"

And with that Willy joyfully shoved her out the door and slammed it shut in her face. Unable to cease his laughter, he simply fell to the floor and leaned against the door.

"Over, it's over!" and as he began to catch his breath the madness that had created the hilarity in his eyes became clear as he said, "and it was all for nothing."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you all for your patience with me. I know it has been an awfully long time, but don't worry, I have no plans to drop this story. I shall see it through to completion. I've been ridiculously busy as of late, so I'm doing what I can to find time for all of you. Thank you again for reading!**


	42. Making a Transition

"Thanks for such a great day, Peter."

"Don't mention it. I hate to see you upset, as it makes me upset, so it was really for my own personal benefit."

"Well, thanks anyway," Lauren smirked as she gave Peter a warm hug goodnight.

"Did we ever determine where I'm staying the night?" he then asked.

"Oh, shoot, guess not. There are plenty of rooms to choose from though."

"Where are you staying?"

"Right down this hall. Why?"

"Well, where's Willy staying?"

"Right down this hall..."

Peter gave a quick nod and then said, "That settles it then. I shall be staying right down this hall."

Lauren rolled her eyes but didn't argue. The closer the better with this friendly company.

"Actually," she then started as she led Peter down the hallway, "why don't you just stay in my room if you're so worried? It's massive and there's a pull out couch."

"Sounds good to me."

The pair then made their way into the room and got settled for the night. Well, as settled as two energetic friends can be at night time. They ended up chatting half the night away, but eventually found enough exhaustion in them to allow themselves to sleep.

* * *

The next day Charlie rose bright and early. He had a guest in a nearby room and had yet to tell anyone of her presence.

"You sure they'll all be ok with this?"

"Don't worry, Stacy. They'll understand your situation. Especially Willy."

Stacy gave a small smile to her boyfriend then, ready to go out and tell the other occupants of the factory of its newest guest.

* * *

"Oh my, oh my! So many seats to set!" Mrs. Bucket exclaimed. Breakfast had arrived with not one, but two guests. And, on top of that, Willy had chosen to make an appearance, a rarity in the early hours as he usually ate much earlier than the rest of them.

The group had had no qualms with allowing Stacy to stay in the factory, as long as she and Charlie kept to themselves enough. With their innocence, this really wouldn't be a problem.

Willy Wonka had no issues with the situation, but he couldn't help but be intrigued by it all. The pieces fell into such odd places. He felt inspiration coming on, but he knew not from where or for what. However, the seating arrangement at the table had the potential to aid him in that. Willy found himself between various sorts of grandparents looking across the table at Charlie, Stacy, Lauren, and Peter. Stacy and Lauren in such close proximity was triggering something odd within him, while Peter was having some issues of his own having Willy seated directly across from Lauren. This would be interesting.

"So Willy, we haven't seen much of you as of late," Grandpa George then piped up.

"Hmm, oh yes. I've been quite busy with various jobs and sorts and ends and odds."

"I'm sure you've seen an odd end or two," Peter then muttered, to which Lauren then gave him a sharp look. Fortunately, no one else seemed to take note of the comment.

"Mum, do you think Stacy could go with you to the restaurant today? I think she'd really enjoy it," Charlie then started a new topic on his half of the table, to which his mother emphatically agreed to the arrangement, leading to Stacy's insistence upon aiding the Bucket couple so as not to be a burden.

Peter decided to get his own bit of conversation flow going on his end of the table then.

"So how's the situation currently looking with all your sticky odds and ends?"

"Peter!" Lauren hissed, embarrassed by his bluntness.

"It's, uh, going swell," Willy then began to reply, "Victoria lied to me and she's gone forever."

Lauren decided to become very interested in her food at that moment. She didn't know how she felt about that news. Things were leveling out, but how "gone" could this woman truly be?

"Well that's great, Willy. In fact, I'd be willing to say it's fantastic, Willy."

A confused and calculating Willy then asked, "And why's that, Peter?"

"Because," a grin then spreading across the young man's face, "that means that this strictly business relationship you have with Lauren can go into a transition period of less contact. This is especially good news since there are only three days left until her flight back to the states."

At this both Lauren and Willy suddenly looked each other dead in the eyes. They hadn't realized how quickly time had flown by. The entire summer was almost gone, and there was no telling when Lauren would come back to London, or if she'd ever even have the chance.

"I... I guess I should really make the most of these next few days," Lauren slowly articulated, "with work, that is."

Willy simply nodded, quickly finished his breakfast, and left, not uttering another word.


	43. Sleepless Days

"With how the modern working world is, I think a sleep supplement is not only a good idea, but vital. Why lose out to bitter energy drinks when we know we can do better?" Lauren then prodded the men as they entered the Serum Room.

"We have energy concoctions, if that's what you mean," Willy responded.

"No, I think we have the potential to revolutionize this industry. Just like you can have supplements for deficiencies in certain vitamins and minerals, I think we should remedy the situation for the sleep-deprived."

"You want to make sleeping obsolete?" Charlie then inquired.

"Not exactly, no. I think we have the potential to help supplement a lack on a short term basis, like when someone finds themselves on a particular assignment.

"But where would we begin on a serum like that?" Willy asked.

"We'd simply have to begin by looking at the deficiencies the body deals with when sleep deprived, as there have got to be other chemical imbalances experienced when this vitality is lost."

"It's an interesting theory. See what you can do with the time you have," Willy nodded and then led Charlie out as there was no reason for all three of them to work on this single person assignment.

Lauren grinned triumphantly to herself as she set to work. Of course, the true work had only just begun, and this would prove to be no small feat. Research was done on other supplements in their function and sleep deprivation in its requirements. Following that the tests were to begin. She developed half a dozen serums, all with the potential to work, but knew not what to do from there as a realization dawned on her.

_Even with the fastest pace, I couldn't possibly see this to completion. I won't even get to develop the actual candy as the serum needs to be tested first._

* * *

It had been a long, hard day of work and she was proud of what she accomplished, but she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as she headed to dinner.

"You already have serum samples? I've never managed to develop any, let alone in one day!" Charlie exclaimed across the dinner table to a suddenly modest looking Lauren.

"I'm sure if you set your mind to it you could do it no problem. Besides, I won't even get to see how mine turns out in the end. I got some trials up and running before dinner with some of the Oompa Loompas, but someone's going to have to oversee it all once I'm gone."

Peter gave a small smile to Lauren as he then said, "Well come on, clearly you've done something great if you've willingly deprived yourself of my company for a whole day. Stacy and I felt quite neglected on our shopping spree today."

"Don't say that!" Stacy then laughed, "I don't want Charlie to feel guilty, nor do I want him to be jealous about the fact that I spent a whole day with you."

"Don't worry, Stacy. I think I've figured out how much of a joker Peter is," Charlie then responded.

With big eyes and a pout, Peter replied with a sweet sounding, "Me? A joker? Never!"

At that the whole table couldn't help but crack up. Clearly Peter was no innocent child. The lighthearted air at the table helped keep the conversation upbeat. However, Willy couldn't help but focus on what Lauren had said. Her departure would be quite unfortunate with everything she had accomplished. Willy knew what he had to do.

* * *

Once dinner was over, Peter, Lauren, and Willy made their way to the elevator in order to make it back to the vicinity of their rooms. The teens were giggling and chatting before, and even a tad during the rapid journey, while Willy remained stone faced. Upon reaching their rooms, Peter headed right in, but Willy then reached a tentative hand out and placed it on Lauren's shoulder. For a moment Peter hadn't noticed what caused the girl's delay, but he then looked up and noticed the candy maker.

"What're you doing?" he accusatorily asked.

"I need to talk to Lauren. Just for a moment. And, uh, just us."

"Ha, that's real funny, but I don't think sh-"

"Peter."

Startled, Peter looked down quite confounded to Lauren, who simply nodded.

"Well, I'll be right inside," he settled, then resigning himself to the interior of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

"So, what is it we need to talk about?" Lauren inquired to a quite nervous looking Willy.

"I have a proposition for you," his voice cracked ever so slightly.

"What kind of proposition are we dealing with here?"

"The kind where you stay at the factory as a full time employee."

Lauren's eyes bugged out of her head at this. She honestly had not ever considered the prospect of staying at the factory. It was unreal.

"I-I don't know what to say..."

"You can just nod. That'll get the message across."

"Willy, I-I don't think it'd be a very good idea. I mean-"

"Business only, I swear!"

Lauren gave a sad smile as she then explained, "While that's good to know, it's not my only issue with this. I mean... I still have to graduate and go to college... This is a brilliant opportunity, but I don't want to throw away all my other options for it. I'm sorry, Willy, but I just can't do it."

Willy gave a slight nod, understanding but wishing he didn't have to. Lauren then began to turn to go, but the man halted her once more.

"While we're out here..." he started, "I guess now is as good a time as any, but... do we-"

"No," she didn't want him to finish the question, because it'd hurt too much, and she knew what he was getting at.

"Anything I can-"

"No. You cheated. End of story."

Willy hung his head down and nodded. He hated himself, but he agreed with her. What he had done was unforgivable. He just hoped she could find happiness with someone else.

The pair stood in silence for a moment, tensions clearly high between them, before they simultaneously turned to leave. It was too much for either to bear and they were both feeling far too vulnerable to continue.

Lauren slowly dragged her feet across her room as she sat on her bed. She sighed heavily before she heard a voice.

"Wanna talk about it?"

She looked up and saw Peter leaning against the wall across from her.

"I don't know. Not really."

"Alright. Well, is there anything I can do?"

Lauren just shook her head and laid back on the bed. Peter made his way across the room and got down with her. Wrapping his arms around her, he then provided her with a shoulder to cry on. However, Lauren wasn't in a crying mood. She looked up to Peter with a questioning look, unsure of what was going on. Peter gave her a silent answer when his lips descended upon her own.


	44. Misinterpreted Mess

Lauren succumbed to the feeling of Peter against her for a few short moments, but suddenly broke away.

"Peter, I-I had no idea! And with all that has been going on, this just isn't the-"

He gave her no time to finish her thought, let alone her sentence as his lips overtook hers yet again. Lauren pushed him away much more quickly this time.

"Peter, no. We can't. You're... you're my best friend. We can't do this."

"Do you really believe that, or are you just letting logic and reason fuel you on?"

"You know how I am. Logic and reason are my bread and butter. I'd be nothing without them. I can't do this. I just... can't. I'm sorry, Peter."

Peter nodded and walked back to the couch.

"Sorry if I... made this awkward."

Lauren shook her head vigorously as she said, "No, don't be. It's just... I can't.

Peter laid back as Lauren did the same, though neither would be getting any true rest that night.

* * *

"Stupid, stupid, stupid. Especially for a genius such as myself," Willy chided himself as he paced his room.

"No, no, no," he shook his head, "it was silly and senseless and her last days here need to be happy. We need to put all these problems that have gone on behind us and just have good memories. Good, good memories."

Then an idea began to develop in the factory owner's mind. These turning gears made him realize that memories meant the past, and the past mean there was a present, and a present meant there was a future, and a future meant that-

"Back to work!" he cried out as he leapt up and made his way out of his room. This was an idea that simply could not settle overnight.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this one's so short... suppose I should've just stuck it on the last one. Oh, well.**


	45. Probable Perplexities

Lauren heard a door slam and the rapid movement of a pair of feet.

_Now what could Willy be doing at this hour?_

Lauren slowly crept out of bed, so as not to disturb Peter, and peeked out the door. She caught a glance of Willy's coattails as he rounded the corner. Well, she certainly wasn't going to be getting any sleep, so why not do a bit of snooping?

Lauren made her way down the hall then to discover what this mad man was up to. She followed him until they reached an area of the factory she hadn't seen during her two months of residence. There was a large door that was dark and sturdy looking and almost frightening in an assertively evil sort of way. Strangest of all was that this darkest of dark doors appeared to be glowing while still remaining eternally dark. Perhaps something was to be kept within.

Willy began working at a keypad at a manic rate, looking as if his fingers were in a race with each other. Instantly, he stopped and within that moment the door let out a loud groan. The internal locks could be heard working and Lauren watched as the door finally began to creak open. Willy entered and Lauren then ran after to catch the door before it closed.

Unfortunately, she was too late. So the girl then looked on at the keypad, curious as to what sort of combination required such rapid handiwork. Upon taking note of it, however, she clearly saw that it wasn't a coded lock. It was a game.

PRESS START TO BEGIN was written in bold, red letters. Shrugging, Lauren did so.

The screen lit up brilliantly and just as Lauren was about to begin, a wild alarm went off with lights flashing all around her.

"Brilliant," she muttered as she discovered, upon closer inspection, that while it was a game, the keypad was also a scanner lock. Lauren didn't fit the bill.

The door swung open then as Willy charged out looking wild-eyed. Encountering Lauren took him aback, but he soon calmed and went to the keypad to kill the alarms.

"What're you doing here?" he then asked as he turned back around.

"I could ask you the same thing," she confidently retorted, hoping to remove any chance of blame on herself.

"Working in my factory. Now, seeing as your pajamas are not proper work attire, I do believe that you are not doing the same."

Lauren coughed and scratched at the back of her head. So much for that. Eyes lowered as she searched for something to say.

"I... couldn't sleep," she finally replied.

Willy nodded and then said, "Well, this is not the place for such matters. It's dangerous."

"Oh come on, can't you tell me what you're working on in there?"

Now it was Willy's turn to look shamefaced.

"I take it it's not work," Lauren then deduced.

Willy shook his head and said, "Not exactly, no. It could potentially alter the fate of the factory, but that's all."

Lauren nodded and then asked, "And what's this room for, anyway?"

"While I would just love to share, I really don't think now's the time."

"And when would be?"

"Heh-heh, funny you should mention that..."

Looking suspicious then, Lauren asked, "And why might that be?"

Willy stiffened up then and clamped a hand over his mouth. He'd said too much and he planned to say no more.

Lauren shook her head and said, "I'm going to find out, you know."

Willy sighed and simply turned to go back in. Lauren huffed a little in response, only to pout and nothing more, as she walked off.

Relief overwhelming the man then, he decided it was time to really get started. Stepping back inside, Willy began working on a few gadgets and gizmos aplenty until everything was running the way that he desired. Willy then made his way over to a screen and began inputting all the necessary data. It was only a matter of moments before it was all ready. Willy went through the actions to get it to begin and there he had it. The year 2015 was right before his very eyes.

Lauren was with Peter, but it didn't seem quite right. They weren't happy, but they weren't unhappy. They seemed... content. It was as if both had settled for what was easiest. Next he saw 2020 with their marriage, 2023 their first child, and so on and so forth. Soon though, it was 2038 and things weren't running so smoothly. Lauren left Peter because she wasn't happy. It didn't feel right. She was tired of being a housewife. She had dreams. This life hadn't been it.

Willy's life wasn't much better. Things ran smoothly at the factory with an equal level of success. In 2020 Willy gave Charlie full control of the factory, at which point he began to go by the wayside. As long as the factory ran, he was content, but he failed to pursue anything in his life. It was constant consistency. And it was very consistent, at that, for the natural sweets of the factory allowed Willy to keep his youthful sheen longer than expected. He dated here and there, but never settled. He was married to his factory, and when Charlie took control he seemed to lack even that, despite his still high level of input. Something was simply amiss.

The Probability Machine cut off then, as going much further would've sent it into overload. It had shown Willy his and Lauren's probable lives if, as Willy's variable input stated, "Willy and Lauren never saw each other ever again."

It didn't look like it'd go over too terribly well, so it gave Willy some hope of at least being her friend. He then powered the machine back on to see what he really wanted: "Willy and Lauren meet again."

The device started out as it had before, with Lauren being content with Peter in 2015. However, at that time, Willy had a conversation with Charlie that prodded the young man to make an offer to Lauren. He suggested she study abroad... in London.

Originally, her plan had been to go to Spain, but the United Kingdom was a close second. A push in the right direction by an old friend was enough to drive her on. Peter was also traveling, but to Africa. They mutually agreed to put their relationship on hiatus as they weren't thrilled about long-distance relationships. Everything would go over smoothly enough.

It did just that, as Lauren had a fine time at university, especially with her ability to visit Charlie. No mention of Willy was ever made. However, Willy found himself out in public more. He was hoping to run into Lauren. All that hope appeared to do him good, as he ended up bumping into her one day on the street to which she immediately-

"No, no! No, no, no!" Willy cried out.

He was feeling conflicted. While the device only had a 68.73594% accuracy rate, it felt like an invasion of privacy. It was enough to drive him insane. He wanted to know, but... he couldn't do it.

Willy sat down with one thing certain in his mind: life would be miserable without Lauren in it.


	46. Confused Concoctress

The following morning, Lauren found herself organizing the testing of her new serums, really hoping that at least one concoction would work. Finding herself to be entirely unsure, she decided not to fret about it. The tests would tell the guys after she was gone and all would be well then.

Finally accepting this fact led her to join Charlie and Willy in other sorts of routine testing. The guys seemed to be acting quite odd around her, though.

Finally, Charlie said, "Lauren, I think we could really use your help in another part of the factory. Willy and I have the chocolates covered. Why don't you check out gum, or something?"

"First of all, gum is disgusting. Second of all, why?"

"It just feels a tad crowded here, that's all..." Charlie dropped his eyes to the floor.

"MM-hmm..." Lauren looked suspiciously between the two until she finally sighed and moved on.

As soon as she left, both guys let out a loud sigh.

"I thought she'd never leave!" Willy exclaimed.

"Well, let's get back to work on this thing before she gets back."

The two men then worked in hushed tones for several hours, holding onto some secret they wanted no one else to know about.

"So, how was work today?" Stacy asked at dinner.

"Fine," both Charlie and Willy answered a little _too_ quickly.

"Yeah, they were just _fine_ without my help," Lauren added.

"What do you mean, dear?" asked a very confused looking Mrs. Bucket.

"The guys kicked me out to work in their little boys club. I've only got one full day left and they're already dying for me to be gone."

"That's not true!" Willy blurted out, to which the others at the table looked slightly put off.

"I'm sure it'll be easier without her around though, right?" Peter asked, suddenly getting on the defensive for the sake of his friend.

"Just... don't worry about it just yet," Charlie tried to cover up without hurting any feelings.

Lauren raised a single eyebrow in intrigue. Now she most certainly had to find out what was going on.

That night, instead of going to bed, Charlie and Willy met up to work on the final touches of their big project.

"She's going to love this!" Willy excitedly whispered.

"Come on, let's get this done quickly so as not to raise suspicion," Charlie whispered back.

Large grins plastered across their faces, the two men left sometime later, hoping to make Lauren's last day one she would never forget.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry I've taken so long to update, but my idea has been more than a tad hectic as of late. I'm working right now on some updates, but I don't know when I'll get another chance to work after tonight. Expect more than just this one chapter to appear over the course of the next several hours.**


	47. And So It Begins

"That... smell..." Lauren mumbled as she rolled over in her bed.

Slowly cracking open her eyes she suddenly shot straight up in shock. Before her stood Willy, Charlie, Peter, and Stacy, each holding a tray of food.

"Wh-what are you all doing here?" she asked quickly.

"We thought you'd like breakfast in bed," Willy responded.

"And we thought we'd give you some options," Charlie added.

Lauren then looked down to the feast before her. She saw bacon, grits, toast, eggs of every kind, multiple cereals, candy of all sorts, and even a few dishes she wasn't at all familiar with.

"This looks... fantastic!" she grinned wide and then gestured for the others to join her on the monster of a bed.

Lauren was quite happy as she got to try a little bit of everything and chat with her friends. It was quite easily the best breakfast she'd ever had.

When all was finished off (quite remarkably with a number of groans from everyone involved in the consumption) Lauren's friends all suddenly gathered up the dishes and left.

"Wait... what just happened?" Lauren was flabbergasted to the nth degree, but decided not to fret over it and simply went to take a shower instead.

After having cleaned herself, off, she came back to her bedroom to see a note on the bed. Smiling to herself, it became all the more clear that something was up as Lauren walked over to read it.

_Lauren,_

_Not a single friend shall you see unless you solve these clues presented before thee. The first is clearly found within, but beyond, do you have what it takes to win?_

"Easy enough," Lauren then thought to herself, "the first clue is obviously leading me to the Rhyming Room. This looks to be the scavenger hunt of a lifetime."

On that note, the young woman ran off toward her predetermined destination only to meet instant exasperation for, on the door, there was a note written detailing her flawed conclusion. The Rhyming Room was incorrect and she had to find the true destination.

_Silly Lauren! You came to the oh-so-simple conclusion that since the clue rhymed that your next hint would be in the rhyming room! We're not that dim-witted. We do, in fact, know how to pull together at least a semi-decent riddle. Now read what was written and figure out an actual answer to an actual riddle, not just a silly coincidental connection! Run, girl! If you keep up at this rate, you won't be seeing any of us today, which would truly be a shame... what with it being your last day and all..._

_Happy Hunting!_

"Well, if this isn't it... Let's see... single friend... you see... before thee... first... you. Number and then direction back to me. Single means one, then there are two directions back at me, then first is one, and then another 'you.' One...two...one...something."

Lauren paused then, because this was clearly leading her nowhere. It seemed like a more random connection, when Willy, and Charlie at times, liked to make the seemingly senseless into something quite... well, senseful. But then, another idea struck her.

"Unless, maybe it's not about the numbers but the rhyme's connecting words! See-thee, within-win. With the possible exception of 'see' meaning the letter, I think there's not much to be done with it. However, I wouldn't put it past the guys to have some sort of letter issue... like having one too many. See... the... Now what do we do with the second rhyme?"

Pausing, a slow smile started to dawn on her face.

"He wouldn't... Oh but that's just the thing- he would! WW! Willy Wonka! See the WW, which would mean the emblem, which just so happens to hang quite prominently all over Willy's office!"

After coming to such a complex (and convoluted) conclusion, Lauren took off towards the chocolateer's office, determined to be correct this time. On this door was another note, but it was more simply stated.

_Congrats! You win!_

"That's it?"

"Now why would we leave it at that?"

Lauren jumped upon hearing a second voice, but could not seem to find its source.

"Hellooooooooooo! Over here!"

Lauren turned to see a TV placed upon a stool and plastered across the screen was none other than Willy Wonka's smiling face. The girl stepped up and looked all around, trying to figure out the connection.

"You're trying to figure out if this is a live broadcast or a pre-recorded segment, aren't you?"

Turning her attention back to the main screen, she responded, "Uh, yeah... I am."

"Recorded."

"Oh. That makes sense. You don't want me to get a clue at your location from seeing you on the screen. However, I truly have no idea where you could have filmed this since your face truly takes up the ENTIRE screen."

"I bet you're still talking to me, aren't ya?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess I should stop."

"And I bet you're still talking to me."

"Right... Shutting up now. You've probably got my next clue."

"You're not ever gonna actually stop talking," TV-Willy winked back at Lauren (actually the camera, but... you get the point).

"Ok, you can stop teasing and start saying something useful!"

"Jeez, you don't have to yell."

Raising a skeptical eyebrow, Lauren accused, "There's no way this was recorded. You're responding to everything I'm saying!"

"I just know you really well."

Lauren didn't know if she should be touched or frightened.

"Am I really that easy to read in to?" she wondered.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway- your next clue!"

Lauren leaned in, for Willy chose this moment to pause dramatically.

"Go... to the restaurant."

"Heh?"

"Not so complicated, is it?" and with that the TV shut itself off.


	48. Wait What?

"Lame," Lauren sighed, then shuffled off toward the restaurant.

The walk wasn't ever exactly short, but for whatever reason it felt particularly long on this particular occasion. Confused, Lauren looked down towards her feet and an astonishing change seemed to have taken place.

"Those aren't my shoes," she observed.

"Those aren't my shoes..." she repeated, trying to figure out how they were switched out when she'd been standing for the entirety of the time since she first placed her own shoes on.

"Those aren't my shoes!" she cried out a third time, suddenly throwing herself to the ground. She ripped the offending articles off so she could finally examine them and discover not only how they came to be found on her person, but also how they were slowing her down.

First of all, they were pink, hot pink. Second of all, there was something that didn't quite match up, they were combat boots. Within their souls was something quite interesting, though. They were magnetized.

"How did you-"

"You've had them on the whole time. Amazing what a simple distraction can do."

Looking up behind her, Peter was found to be standing behind her.

"Fancy meeting you here," he smirked.

"I've had these on the whole time? There's no way!"

"Switched 'em out with your other shoes and the confusion and excitement with everything made you go through your routine without realizing something strange was happening."

Shaking her head, Lauren reached a hand out for Peter to pull her back up. Without a word, she started to trek on yet again... shoeless.

"Lauren! Wait, where you going?"

"The restaurant."

"Why?"

Pausing, she turned on her heel to look at Peter to slowly say, "Because Willy told me to..."

"Oh, oh... right."

"What do you know that you're not telling me? And why are you here, anyway? Why do I see you without solving anything?"

"Uh..."


End file.
